Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s NT Secretary Cath Hatcher says the Alice Springs Hospital is in dire straits with severe staff shortages

Transcript

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation’s NT Secretary Cath Hatcher says the Alice Springs Hospital is in dire straits with severe staff shortages · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So now you might recall last week we caught up
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: with Kath Hatcher from the Nursing and Midw're Free Federation
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory. We knew that she was going
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: to be traveling to Alice Springs to see how things
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: were going with our nursing staff in Central Australia. And
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Cath joins me on the line right now. Good morning, Cath,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Good morning Katie. Kath. I know that you were in
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Alice last week. What did you see and what were
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: nurses telling you?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's just heartbreaking, Katie. The nurses are definitely saying,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: you know, it's almost like a war zone. In the
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: emergency department, they have one hundred and thirty full time
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: equivalents staff, just nurses and midwives down. They're trying to
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: get agencies and casual but it's not always forthcoming. And
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: they're really tired. They're totally well, they are totally exhausted,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: They're not they haven't got any what would the premiere
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: of New Zealand would say, they haven't got any left
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: in the tank?
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Oh, cav one hundred and thirty full time equivalent staff down.
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: Is that just in the hospital or is that across that.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Is no, that is just in the hospital, and then
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: if you look at the clinics around Central Australia, there's
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: nearly another thirty full time equivalent about twenty eight I
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: believe full time equivalent not there and they're filled with
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: the agencies at the moment, but they are paying a
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: mon astronomical amount per day of one hundred and one thousand,
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: five hundred dollars a day to work what so.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: In those So just let me get this really clear
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: in my mind and really clear for our listeners. So
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: with one hundred and thirty staff that they're down just
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: in the hospital, those positions are then being filled with
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: agency nurses and they're getting paid how much a day?
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Well, it's just in the clinics and remote remote are
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: nurses in the community within the hospital. Yeah, so the
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: one hundred and thirty full time equivalent missing in the hospital,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: they are trying to fill them with agencies and casual staff.
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Sometimes it's successful depending on where which ward you're looking at,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: but they're not. They haven't worked with full capacity for
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: quite a number of years now and it's getting worse
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: the last six months. And they've only got the agreement
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: in the communities to pay at that higher rate until
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: the end of February and then the communities nurses not
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: sure what they're going to do because potentially the agencies
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: might not come if they're not getting that extra money
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: per day well tas.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: So obviously there is extreme staffing shortages. Is that because
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: of the violence and what we are seeing in Ourice
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Springs at the moment?
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, that certainly has a lot to do with it,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: but also, as we know through COVID a lot of
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: areas in Australia are in the same circumstances. They have
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: always you know, worked pretty short and then they've had
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: the COVID hit and the circumstances around COVID, they've had
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: huge workloads every day, not just you know it for
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: one month, but it's been continuous and a lot of
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: people have left the profession permanently, or they've left for
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: a good break, maybe twelve months to two year break
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: and they may be coming back or they may going
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: to other areas. So there's a very good deficit of
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: nurses and midwives around Australia and the violence and nature
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: that's happening in Alice Springs is certainly not happening, sorry,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: not forthcoming in agencies or staff or even new staff
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: that wish to commence their nursing degree and coming to
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs, they're choosing perhaps to go elsewhere.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: Which you can understand. Kas absolutely when you spoke to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the nurses last week in the hospital in Alice Springs,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, did they raise concerns about some of what
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: they are seeing in the hospital on a day to
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: day basis.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: Yes, certainly. The day to day aggression has always been there,
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: and that's always been a little bit and that's usually
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: prompted by delays in their treatment because they've got a
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: huge workload, or the visitors are concerned for their loved one,
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: so there show their aggression for they love one too.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: Usually the nurses and doctors as well. But that has
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: certainly increased because the workload for all of the health
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: staff has increased. Their physiotherapists and all the other allied
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: health workers there got low numbers within the hospital, so
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: it falls back on the nurses or the doctors to
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: do that extra care because the allied health staff aren't there,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: so there's extra aggression. They're not getting their care in
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: a timely manner and everyone's getting upset, and that's fair
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: enough too, and I don't blame the patients for the
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: visitors to doing that, but they just have to be
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: mindful that they have got a huge workload and they
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: will give the care to the patients, but it's just
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: unfortunate that it is happening.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Kats. Are the staff they're feeling safe? I know that
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: last week you'd spoken to us about a nurse who
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: had been the victim of, you know, of an assault.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: Are the staff feeling safe.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: During the day A bit of APPREHENSI see bussness within
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: going out of the hospital to their cars in the
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: car park, but more so in the evening and overnight
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: or first thing in the morning, so they're all traveling
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: in pairs or in groups. They have increased security at
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: the hospital, but yes, there's always that apprehension of they
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: need to be aware of their surroundings and not to
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: go out alone to their car.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Tath. Have you ever seen that in any of the
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: other hospitals that you've sort of worked in, any of
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: the other health systems that you've worked in, where it's
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: reached a point where staff are having to do things
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: like that walk in pairs or walking groups to make
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: sure that they stay safe.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: There's certainly been small components of that over the time
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: in all of the towns in the territory, but not
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: to the extent that it's happening in Alice Springs and
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: perhaps Catherine at the moment.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: So Catherine as well, there's concerns there at this point.
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Yes, we haven't had actually members come to us, but
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: we know the increase in violence in and around Catherine
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: has increased, and I'm sure that it won't be too
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: long before members come to us with situations that are
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: happening there unfortunately, cass Do you.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Feel as though the nurses in Central Australia, And I
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: know you've touched on Catherine too, but let's just look
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: at the nurses at the Alice Springs Hospital. Do they
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: have the support that they need? I know that you
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: said there is increased security at the hospital. Is that
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: enough at the moment.
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: Their managers are really good and they're feeling that love
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: and support by their unit managers. They just not sure
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: about the executive level. They just need you know. Yes,
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: they're getting agencies and they're getting casuals and they're being
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: paid a lot more than what they are, they're not
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: always feeling that respect there, and they would like definitely
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: more recruitment happening from the Department of Health in the
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: level that does all the Facebook advertising and the website
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: advertising to recruit from within the state, so within the
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: territory and from interstate. They feel that that could be increased,
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: and they need to have in se tips to be
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: able to retain the current staff because there are staff
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: that are either on sick leave or on long service
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: leaves that are perhaps looking at not coming back to
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: work in the territory. They're looking for other jobs within
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: other states, and they are very tired, and they're very fatigued,
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: and they, like I said, they just don't have that
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: energy to continue perhaps, but yeah, it's difficult. They definitely
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: need to make some changes instantly, and the recruitment phases
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: in the hubs there, they need to, you know, put
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: if they're doing an interview and then by the managers
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: to get someone to recruit to say the emergency department
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: or to the renal unit, then they need to get
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: that contract through quick and non wait another couple of months.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: It sounds like they desperately need stuff. I mean a
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: hundred thirty full time equivalent staff down at the Alice
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: Springs Hospital. That is a huge number. Kath Hatcher, we
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: are going to have to wrap up just very quickly.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: I mean, what is your message really this morning when
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: it comes to the nursing staff at the hospital in
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Alice Springs.
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: My heart goes out to the mall there in Alice Springs,
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: and we need to have some respect to the nurses
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: and doctors and all the Allied health workers that are
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: working there. They're doing a fantastic job and we need
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: to up the advertisement to be able to recruit to
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: Alice Springs. Alice Springs is a very beautiful town and
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: it's always had the best initiatives and incentives to move forward,
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: and it's just a shame that it's in such a
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: dire circumstances at the moment.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: Well, Kath Hatcher, we always appreciate your time. Thank you
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with us after coming
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: back from Alice Springs.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Oh, thank you very much, Katie and your listeners, thank you.