Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s Catch Hatcher says staff shortages at Alice Spring Hospital have gotten worse with 140 roles vacant, putting extra pressure on remaining staff

Transcript

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s Catch Hatcher says staff shortages at Alice Spring Hospital have gotten worse with 140 roles vacant, putting extra pressure on remaining staff · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that the Australian Nursing and midwiff Ree Federation
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: last month raised concerns on this show about a staff
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: shortage in Alie Springs and safety concerns at the hospital.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the show to give us a
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: bit of an update is Cap Hatcher from the Nursing
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: and midwiff Re Federation shares the branch secretary. Good morning
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: to you, Cas.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie and to your listeners.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Kat Has there been any improvement to the situation in
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Alice Springs.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: A little approvement where the presentations to the emergency department
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: over the last few weeks has fallen compared to the
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: previous eight weeks. So that's a little bit of a
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: reprieve with admissions into the hospital and presentations to the
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: emergency department. But apart from that, the asking of extra
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: staff on the ground with either nurses or patient care assistants.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: That hasn't happened yet, but they're working very hard to facilitate.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: That now, Kas, I understand you've obviously been in Alice
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: a couple on a couple of occasions recently. I understand
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: that the Chief Minister was there earlier this week as well,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: were there any sort of significant movements or changes to
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: what the government is doing to really try to get
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: things moving to fill those jobs.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: So when I was there about three half weeks ago,
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: the actual hospital had about one hundred and thirty full
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: time equivalent shortage of nurses and midwives and currently it's
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: now one hundred and forty four full time equivalent down,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: which is a shocking figure. But there was others that
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: they did tell us back three four weeks ago that
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: they were in the process of leaving, so that was expected.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: They're trying to get recruiting for permanent staff and they're
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: recruiting for agency staff to fill the vacancies as much
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: as they can. Yes, there is some coming and there
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: is some more new graduates starting shortly, so that is
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: going to put some more feed on the ground with
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: help clinically, and they are working with us. They are
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: working with the chief nurse and midwifree officer and now
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the Health Minister to try and facilitate the recruitment process
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: in a much quicker format and getting people on the
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: ground asap. But the other issue is accommodation in tenant
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: in Alice Springs as well.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: So Kat before I get to the accommodation. I do
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: just want to ask you, I mean, one hundred and
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: forty four full time equivalent staff down, how on earth
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: do you do your job day in and day out
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: when you are that volume of staff short?
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Very difficult, and all the staff are doing you know,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: three to four extra shifts per week, so they're working
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: on a full time scale plus they're also doing three
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: to four extra shifts a week, whether that's a full
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: shift or a six hour shift, but that is very tiring.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: They've been doing that for twelve to fifteen months now,
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: and some of them told me on Monday that they'll
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: just have to try and cut back on that because
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: they are exhausted and they're wanting to, you know, save
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: their physical and mental well being and they're needing to
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: drop that, which some of the managers are making sure
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: that no one's doing any more of the one or
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: two extras a week because that's a long time to
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: be able to facilitate, you know, sixty seventy hours a
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: week of work for a long time.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: I reckon, honestly, it would be so tough. Cas Now,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: talk me through the calls that you've made. When it
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: does come to accommodation in Alae Springs.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: So it was alarmed to me three to four weeks
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: ago when I was there that it's really easy to
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: buy a home in Ala Springs. Yep, there would be
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: about two hundred houses that are up for sale at
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: the moment, but none of them, if all. Sorry I
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: say that again, there is probably none available for renting
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: in Ala Springs currently, so that's a real problem. And
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: I know the accommodation A new accommodation block is almost
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: about to be completed over the next couple of months.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: That will help relieve some of the short term situation
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: of getting staff to come and putting them up anywhere
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: from a month to six or twelve months. But also
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the facility that accommodates the doctors and the nurses, or
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: more so the doctors on campus needs renovating when they've
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: perhaps transferred those doctors to the new accommodation, so it's
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: kind of catch twenty two. There's a new building being
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: built and those doctors will go over to the new building,
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: but the one that they're currently living in apparently needs
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: some renovations, and hopefully that will be done as soon
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: as possible, so there will be some relief, but I
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: feel that the government probably need to buy a good
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: dozen how houses that can accommodate three staff in any
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: one time, that can share a house and share share
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: a communal kitchen to be able to get the staff
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: to come and work in Alice Springs.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean there needs to actually there needs to
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: be accommodation. They need to feel safe. I know that
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister had told nine News earlier in the
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: week that there was a number of factors contributing to
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: staff shortages and that COVID was one of them. Kath,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: would you say, when it comes to the staff shortage
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: that's being experienced right now at the Alic Springs Hospital,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: would you say COVID is the main factory. Would you
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: say that personal safety and the concerns around safety have
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: been the major factor.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: I think it's a multi factoral problem. So if you
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: go back to twenty nineteen, the shortage of staff in
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs Hospital just for nurses and midwives were sitting
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: around three to five percent vacancy rate, and they had
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: been really well in twenty plus years. Are not relying
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: on many agencies up to that point, and then you've
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: got twenty twenty twenty twenty one and twenty twenty two
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: with COVID. Now, they did increase a little bit in
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: that first year to two and they percentage of vacancies
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: went up to eight percent initially and then fifteen percent.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: And then when about twelve fifteen months ago, the whole
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: of Australia opened up and it was much easier to
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: be able to go back into state where you've come from,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: or back overseas, and for those staff that haven't been
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: back home to their country or the interstate to their
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: home for the past two or three years, they were
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: able to facilitate that easily, and they did and they
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: worried about not being able to get through COVID without
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: going to six family, et cetera. So a lot of
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: movement in that space happened, and that increase that to
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: you know, fifty sixty percent, sorry, not fifty sixty percent,
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: more like twenty to thirty percent, and then then it's
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: jumped up in the last fifteen months more so to
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: the nearly fifty percent now, which is what we're experiencing,
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: and that is due to perhaps the enterprise agreement that
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: we're still on the table with the Commissioner there's no
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: finalization of that yet. Other states are offering bonuses to
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: come and sign on, will give you ten thousand dollar bonus,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: and then stay another year, will give you another bonus.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: So those types of attractions have happened as well.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: And then you don't have an impact.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you've got the violence and whatever else
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: is happening within the town of Alice Springs, and you know,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: the drinking, etcetera. And the increased work of the hospital.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: They've become fatigued. There hasn't been in any leeway, so
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: they know that they can get extra money into state,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: so they've gone as well.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Kat, I am running out of time, but I want
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: to ask you. I know you've said the one hundred
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: and forty four full time staff equivalent down in Alice Springs.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: How are we tracking here at the Royal Darwin Hospital.
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: About two weeks ago, the executive director of nursing said
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: about fifteen percent. But I want to know what that
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: fifteen percent looks like in full time equivalents. And I
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: haven't looked at that, yeah, right, that answer yet. So
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: I do know that some areas are really struggling, like
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: maternity and renal areas and some other areas are doing okay,
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: but yes they are struggling, but not to the extent
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: that Alice Springs is at the moment.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: KAT just a very quick one. I know that there
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: had been a worry in back in Alice Spring Rings
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: as well about not being able to get cleaners at
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the hospital, and as we know, that can actually have
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: ramifications in a lot of different ways when you are
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: working in clinical settings. Has that been raised with you
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: or is it still an issue.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: I haven't had that specific point raised to me, but
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I do know that they are down in all type
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: of extra areas like Allied Health, and I would say
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: in the cleaners and kitchen staff and store stuff as well.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: I do know the stores are low in numbers as well,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: so that's impacting the nurses needing to unpack stock in
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: their own awards. Normally it's the store people that do that,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: so it's fallen back onto the nurses. And there is
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: a lack of social workers, physiotherapists, etc. So some of
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: that work then falls back onto the nurses to try
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: and facilitate that as well. So it's really a whole
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: compounding problem.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: It's a big job. It is a massive job. For
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: our wonderful Northern Territory nurses and all of those health
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: staff and the support staff as well. Kath Hatcher, I
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: really appreciate you having a chat with us this morning.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: No doubt we'll talk again in the very near future.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Thank you for coming on the show.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: You're very welcome. Thank you, Katie, thank you.