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Katie Woolf spoke with Nursing Union NT Branch Secretary Cath Hatcher · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, Katie Wolvan three point sixty online at Mix one
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  Speaker 1: O four nine dot com joining us on the show
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  Speaker 1: right now. From the Nursing and Midwifery Federation of the
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  Speaker 1: Northern Territory, we have got the Branch Secretary, Kath Hatcher.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Kath.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Kath. We've been speaking over the last couple of weeks
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  Speaker 1: about the changes that we have seen out at the
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  Speaker 1: Howard Springs quarantine facility. A couple of weeks ago we
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  Speaker 1: caught up with Professor Mary Louise mcclaus and spoke of
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  Speaker 1: the changes when it comes to testing out at Howard Springs.
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  Speaker 1: I guess we all sort of have waited to see
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  Speaker 1: how things would pan out over the last couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 1: But by the look of the pressure release which we
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  Speaker 1: got over the course of the weekend, I see that
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  Speaker 1: the staff out there, the nursing staff, are not happy
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  Speaker 1: about these changes. Talk us through what they're telling you, Kath.
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  Speaker 2: Well, they're highly concerned with the changes, that there's going
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  Speaker 2: to be a breach in quarantine like there has been
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  Speaker 2: over twenty five breaches already around Australia in quarantine we
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  Speaker 2: have been in Darwin very lucky to have Howard Springs
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  Speaker 2: and that's a gold standard and so far we have
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  Speaker 2: had no breaches. But they feel that if they continue
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  Speaker 2: the way they are doing the PCR saliva test instead
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  Speaker 2: of the rapid antigen tests, that there is going to
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  Speaker 2: be a breach. So you just got to be assured that.
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  Speaker 2: There has been two tests that have been conducted over
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  Speaker 2: the last seven to eight months in Howard Springs by
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  Speaker 2: the OSMAT team YEP. They do a daily rapid antigen
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  Speaker 2: test which is a very simple nasal swab and the
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  Speaker 2: result is within fifteen minutes. Then they do a weekly
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  Speaker 2: PCR nasosharan dual swamp which almost goes into the back
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  Speaker 2: into your brain kind of type swab, and that is
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  Speaker 2: done weekly as a backup to the rapid antigen test
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  Speaker 2: done daily. So what's happened a couple of weeks ago
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  Speaker 2: was they changed the sisters daily testing from the rapid
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  Speaker 2: antigen testing, which is ninety nine point three percent accuracy
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  Speaker 2: rate with a false positive in one in ten to
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  Speaker 2: twenty thousand tests. They have now changed to continuing with
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  Speaker 2: the PCO nasu pharanjeal swab weekly with daily PCR saliva tests,
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  Speaker 2: which has an eighty seven percent accuracy with a much
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  Speaker 2: higher rate of false negative test. Did you yet to
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  Speaker 2: go to the laboratory It takes up to twelve hours
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  Speaker 2: to come back, cass.
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  Speaker 1: Did you hear the Chief Minister on the show earlier this.
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  Speaker 2: Morning, No, I did not, ultinately well.
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  Speaker 1: He had said, you know that the reason for this
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  Speaker 1: change has been based on the health advice from our
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  Speaker 1: health professionals and he feels confident that this change is
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  Speaker 1: the right decision to make. Does that make you feel
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  Speaker 1: any more confident?
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  Speaker 2: No? I think he's been fed the wrong information and
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  Speaker 2: I feel that it's not doctor Hughhegy and it's not
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  Speaker 2: doctor Charles Pain. I feel that it is dtor Die
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  Speaker 2: Stevens that has done this and that I don't know
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  Speaker 2: why she has gone against everyone else's in Australia advice.
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  Speaker 2: You talk to Dr Mary Louise mcclaw. There's others around
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  Speaker 2: Australia that are saying this is not evidence face with
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  Speaker 2: changing to the PCR saliva test. It is evidence based
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  Speaker 2: through Doherty Institute in Melbourne, the rapid antigen test that's
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  Speaker 2: done the natal swab on a daily basis and as
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  Speaker 2: back within fifteen minutes is the best evidence based swabs
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  Speaker 2: that they should be conducting.
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  Speaker 1: KATS, what are the risks here if we don't get
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  Speaker 1: this right and if we stuff things up with this testing?
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  Speaker 1: What is the risk?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you've got nursing or are cleaners or any type
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  Speaker 2: of the four to five hundred staff on a daily
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  Speaker 2: basis having a PCER saliva test. That result is not
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  Speaker 2: back until perhaps the next beginning of the next shift.
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  Speaker 2: In the meantime, they have gone back to their families,
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  Speaker 2: their friends, the community, drop kids at school, pick them
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  Speaker 2: up and bang, oh, you've got a result of a
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  Speaker 2: positive test. It might be a false positive, but you've
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  Speaker 2: got a positive res and you've got others that now
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  Speaker 2: need to go into quarantine, including that staff member, and
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  Speaker 2: you've put the community at risk.
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  Speaker 1: KAS. What needs to happen here? Do they need to
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  Speaker 1: revert back to the old way of testing immediately?
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  Speaker 2: They do, absolutely immediately. The DIA Stevens is in charge
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  Speaker 2: of how its spring. She needs to change it back
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  Speaker 2: from the PCR saliva to the rapid antigen nasal swab
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  Speaker 2: immediately to make the community of Darwin safe.
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  Speaker 1: KAS. We asked the Chief Minister who signed off on
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  Speaker 1: this decision. He said that there's an expert panel who
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  Speaker 1: discuss any changes like this, and said that it was
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  Speaker 1: the Chief Health Officer, that it also included Len Nataris
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  Speaker 1: and others. I mean, do you buy that.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure. I have heard information that doctor Charles
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  Speaker 2: Paine didn't sign off on it. Doctor Hugh Hegey was
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  Speaker 2: on hold at the time, So don't know where they're
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  Speaker 2: getting their information from. But there's lots of expertise around
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  Speaker 2: Australia that are saying that they're doing the wrong thing
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  Speaker 2: at Howard Springs.
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  Speaker 1: Goodness me, Well, cas I tell you I don't think
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  Speaker 1: this issue is going to go away in a hurry.
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  Speaker 1: What will the staff out there do if this testing
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  Speaker 1: regime isn't changed.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I have a meeting with Minister Files tomorrow afternoon
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  Speaker 2: and if I don't get any good results, we will
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  Speaker 2: look at perhaps industrial action, what could be striking or etc.
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  Speaker 2: Something along those lines.
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  Speaker 1: So realistically we're in a situation here where the health
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  Speaker 1: staff out at Howard Springs could go on strike if
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  Speaker 1: these changes do not revert back to the way that
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  Speaker 1: they were before.
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  Speaker 2: Well that's me saying that I don't want to go
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  Speaker 2: down that it's not the members wanting to go on
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  Speaker 2: to strike. So it just get that clear me saying that,
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  Speaker 2: But we need some sort of industrial action, whether I
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  Speaker 2: go to the nt WorkSafe etc. For advice, but I'm
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  Speaker 2: not happy. And lots of other people are contacting me
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  Speaker 2: around Australia who are ipideremeologists. They are infection disease doctors
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  Speaker 2: with expertise over thirty years around Australia and they are
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  Speaker 2: not wanting this PCSS saliva test to continue. They want
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  Speaker 2: the rapid antigen test back and that's what they are
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  Speaker 2: starting to use in quarrenty team facilities around Australia. They
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  Speaker 2: are going with the advice the OSMAT we're using and
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  Speaker 2: they are doing the same and now OSMAT. Sorry, Now
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  Speaker 2: how the Springs NTI government have gone the other way
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  Speaker 2: and they've gone to a test that has had evidence
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  Speaker 2: space that's worse.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, Kath, it sounds like it
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  Speaker 1: is a real mess this situation with the testing. I
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  Speaker 1: hope that it's able to get sorted. You know, at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the day, we want to keep our
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  Speaker 1: health staff, all of the stuff out there at Howard
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  Speaker 1: Springs as safe as possible and indeed the whole community exactly. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: Kath Hatcher, I always appreciate your time. Thank you so
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  Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with me this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you