Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie spoke with the AMA's Dr. Robert Parker about calls for the NT borders to stay shut until over 5's are Covid vaccinated

Transcript

Katie spoke with the AMA's Dr. Robert Parker about calls for the NT borders to stay shut until over 5's are Covid vaccinated · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: It's twenty minutes away from ten o'clock.
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  Speaker 2: Now, if you were watching the press conference obviously yesterday afternoon,
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  Speaker 2: you would have seen the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner really
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  Speaker 2: quite upset, I think he'd say and sort of lose
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  Speaker 2: his cool over the vaccine data in remote communities. Now
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  Speaker 2: we know that obviously ensuring that those vaccination numbers in
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  Speaker 2: remote communities is incredibly important.
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  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is.
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  Speaker 2: Doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the Australian
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  Speaker 2: Medical Association here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Dr Parker.
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  Speaker 3: Morning COVID.
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  Speaker 1: Doctor Parker.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if you saw the Chief Minister blow
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  Speaker 2: up at that press conference yesterday, but do you have
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  Speaker 2: much insight into these numbers and is it important that
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  Speaker 2: we do actually have those numbers for some of the
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  Speaker 2: remote communities at this point?
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  Speaker 3: Incredibly importantly, you know, we've been constantly concerned as I
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  Speaker 3: v sund about the potential spread of COVID into those community,
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  Speaker 3: into the remote communities, and the potential a very significant
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  Speaker 3: illness and death following. You know what's happened with indigenous
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  Speaker 3: communities down south, because again the indigenous communities are very
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  Speaker 3: vulnerable given their very high rates of other illnesses that
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  Speaker 3: they've got to both you know, in terms of very
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  Speaker 3: serious impacts are being in hospital and also dying from
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  Speaker 3: the COVID experience.
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  Speaker 1: Now obviously, doctor Parker.
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  Speaker 2: Earlier in the week we also saw the Chief Minister
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  Speaker 2: sort of talk through some of that doughity modeling. And
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  Speaker 2: I know or I understand that you've been out on
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  Speaker 2: reading on the ABC online out in the last couple
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  Speaker 2: of days saying this, until young kids can actually be vaccinated,
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  Speaker 2: that the government should actually be putting those plans to
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  Speaker 2: ease travel restrictions for domestic and international travelers on hold.
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  Speaker 2: Why do you think that that is important at this point?
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  Speaker 3: Well, again, it's the potentials bred I mean children, even
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  Speaker 3: though they thankfully don't often get the virus or get
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  Speaker 3: very sick from it, they can still pass it on.
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  Speaker 3: So the potential spread in the indigenous communities from young
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  Speaker 3: children is still very real.
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  Speaker 2: Should we be sort of holding back I suppose the
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  Speaker 2: whole of the Northern Territory though, when it comes to
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  Speaker 2: those travel restrictions when there are by you know, it
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  Speaker 2: seems as though there are some parts of the Northern
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  Speaker 2: Territory whether it's remote communities or whether it's remote remote
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  Speaker 2: sort of areas within the community who actually seem to
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  Speaker 2: not want to get the vaccine.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the problem is, you know, with vaccine resistance, they're
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  Speaker 3: still users of the system. So if they become sick,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and we're aware of the constant pressures on
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  Speaker 3: the hospital with code yellows and level four, but still,
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  Speaker 3: you know, if they get sick, it's still going to
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  Speaker 3: be they're still going to be traveling to Alice Springs
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  Speaker 3: or day on hospital be treated and putting incredible pressure
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  Speaker 3: on already very straight health health systems. So there's the
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  Speaker 3: individual cost of COVID, then there's the public cost of
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  Speaker 3: further extreme pressure on a very stress system.
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  Speaker 2: Dr Parker, what else can we be doing in some
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  Speaker 2: of these communities and in different parts of the territory
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  Speaker 2: where people don't want to get the vaccine to really,
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  Speaker 2: you know, try and get them over the line.
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  Speaker 3: Well, again, I think I've had my own views on
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  Speaker 3: the media approaches that every man needs dog has their
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  Speaker 3: own view, and unfortunately I'm not funded to provide mine,
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  Speaker 3: which is to produce a couple of racy music videos,
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  Speaker 3: which is basically the local Aboriginal bands putting the message
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  Speaker 3: trust the health mob, don't trust other mob. And for
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  Speaker 3: footballers to be saying you get vaccinated, you know, unfortunately
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  Speaker 3: I'm not funded to produce those, but I think you know,
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  Speaker 3: stern individuals telling you if you get vaccinated probably doesn't
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  Speaker 3: doesn't relate to people, whereas some racy music videos that
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  Speaker 3: get up on TikTok or on Facebook and more likely
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  Speaker 3: to get the message across the people.
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  Speaker 2: But any else my view, we are we looking at
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  Speaker 2: this in a bit of an old fashioned way, do
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  Speaker 2: you think, Dr Parker?
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  Speaker 3: See people use media in quite a different way now
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  Speaker 3: and I think we've got to be quite adaptive about
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  Speaker 3: getting health messages into communities and in a slightly different
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  Speaker 3: way to the way we're doing that. That's my view now.
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  Speaker 2: I know that also as part of this dolity modeling,
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  Speaker 2: and I know you're a busy man, so I don't
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  Speaker 2: know whether you've had the opportunity to have a good
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  Speaker 2: sort of look through it. But it did also say,
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  Speaker 2: and the Chief Minister repeated on Monday that realistically the
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  Speaker 2: territory would be able to handle between thirty and one
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  Speaker 2: hundred daily COVID cases. That is obviously once we reach
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  Speaker 2: those vaccine targets, do you feel as confident as what
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  Speaker 2: the government seems to be.
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  Speaker 3: I think the government's very optimistic, you know, it's I
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  Speaker 3: mean again noting that half of Royal Melbourne Hospital at
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  Speaker 3: one stage is devoted to looking after people with COVID.
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  Speaker 3: That's an incredible pressure on the system. And again, the
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  Speaker 3: people from COVID just don't en up in hospital for
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  Speaker 3: a day and then leave, you know that they stay
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  Speaker 3: and they're often very sick for a number of days
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  Speaker 3: or weeks. The fact that we're currently working on coke
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  Speaker 3: Yellow level four and we're going to get additionally very
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  Speaker 3: sick individuals, so we're going to be in hospital for
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  Speaker 3: a long time, potentially on ventilators, potentially sitting in wards,
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  Speaker 3: is going to put another significant straight on the health system.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm not nearly as confident as the Chief Ministry
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  Speaker 3: about the health systems beliad the code.
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  Speaker 2: They do seem to have really hung their hats on
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  Speaker 2: everybody getting vaccinated and really getting those high vaccination rates.
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  Speaker 2: But do you think that more could have been done
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  Speaker 2: up until this point to make sure we're prepared in
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  Speaker 2: other ways?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I know the government again you know, it gets
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  Speaker 3: back to the letter I wrote years ago. In fact,
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  Speaker 3: it's interesting now that the government is starting to realize
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  Speaker 3: that the national issue about pressure on public hospitals, and
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  Speaker 3: I think Scott Morris is starting to make noises now
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  Speaker 3: about realizing that hospitals all over Australia are already stressed. The
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  Speaker 3: fact that the territory hospitals are three times and stresses
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  Speaker 3: other hospitals shown as active, you know, and the fact
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  Speaker 3: that we may as a result start to get some
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  Speaker 3: real funding coming in to help out very very distressed
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  Speaker 3: hospitals system. Doctor Parker is very important.
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  Speaker 2: How are things going at the moment within our hospital system?
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  Speaker 3: Well, again, I paid tribute to all our collisions, and
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  Speaker 3: workers in the hospitals are doing a great job given
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  Speaker 3: the whole thing going. But you know the co yellow
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  Speaker 3: level four in the cave. The systems are under stress.
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  Speaker 2: We know that the vaccine mandate obviously kicks in over
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  Speaker 2: the weekend. Do you have any idea whether it's going
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  Speaker 2: to have much of an impact from your perspective on
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  Speaker 2: the health system. I on the professionals that work in
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  Speaker 2: the health system, any of them not wanting to get
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  Speaker 2: the vaccine.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I understand there's a few who don't want to.
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  Speaker 3: But unfortunately you're not going to have any work because
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  Speaker 3: the government's been very clear on the thing. You either
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  Speaker 3: get vaccine or you don't have a job, and that's clear.
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  Speaker 3: So you make I suppose you make choices in life,
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  Speaker 3: and that's one of the choices you make.
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  Speaker 2: Well, doctor Robert Parker, It's always good to catch up
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  Speaker 2: with you. Anything else I should be aware of before
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  Speaker 2: I let you go.
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  Speaker 3: We're becoming increasing concerned about police body worn care cameras,
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  Speaker 3: particularly in the in the in the context of what
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  Speaker 3: happened to me in the in the Hoffman trial, and
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  Speaker 3: also what happened with the publication of the Wroth body
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  Speaker 3: worn camera. Where we're now the police, when they wear
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  Speaker 3: body worn cameras can capture whole lot of stuff, So
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  Speaker 3: they can be an ed wandering around capturing a whole
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  Speaker 3: lot of material. It's not relevant to the person they're escorting.
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  Speaker 3: Other people having medical conditions treated, potentially day and celebrities.
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  Speaker 3: We suddenly on police body warm camera for medical private
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  Speaker 3: medical conditions and also you know, clinical discussions about individuals
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  Speaker 3: that may be identified also ending up on police body
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  Speaker 3: warn cameras. So we're seeking and again what happens to that,
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  Speaker 3: So we're seeking urgent advice from the Anti Police Minister
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  Speaker 3: and the Health Minister on the privates issues about that.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, obviously, when police are out and about in
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  Speaker 3: public with body worn cameras, you know, they do that
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  Speaker 3: to protect themselves and the people that they're dealing with.
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  Speaker 3: But in a health situation where a whole range of
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  Speaker 3: people who have not committed a crime or have done
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  Speaker 3: the thing and just seeking health and suddenly on police
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  Speaker 3: body worm cameras by no fault of their own, it's
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  Speaker 3: a real concern. So that's a significant issue for the
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  Speaker 3: AMA at the moment that we're pursuing with the government.
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  Speaker 2: Is you're right, So is that do you mean just
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  Speaker 2: within the hospital and health system or you know, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: You can be an ned having something treated and a
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  Speaker 3: policeman bring someone into the ed having their body worm
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  Speaker 3: came or active there and while they're moving through the idea,
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  Speaker 3: they're recording everything that's happening, so everyone who come into
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  Speaker 3: contact with and potentially you know, they're identifying people, they're
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  Speaker 3: identifying their medical conditions are there. And also there are
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  Speaker 3: a cuisian maybe having a discussion nearby about a patient,
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  Speaker 3: that's all, but also being recorded on the camera, and
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  Speaker 3: it has no relevance to the to what the police
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  Speaker 3: are doing with a particular individual, but it certainly has
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  Speaker 3: significant health privacy concerned.
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  Speaker 2: And so this is obviously something that the I m
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  Speaker 2: A here in the Northern Territory is wanting to get
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  Speaker 2: a bit more detail about and wanting to sort of
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  Speaker 2: see whether whether that body warn camera is actually required
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  Speaker 2: them if they are bringing someone into the hospital.
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's right, whether it is whether it is required
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  Speaker 3: in the ed, I mean, whether we've got the ability
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  Speaker 3: to say the police please turn it off. Now you're
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  Speaker 3: in the idea because the potentially potentially there are issues
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  Speaker 3: about health privacy for other individuals. But from the person
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  Speaker 3: you're with, yeah, well we seek in urgent advice from
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  Speaker 3: the police and health minsitess on that.
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  Speaker 2: So seeking urgent advice and doctor Parker I'm assuming obviously
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  Speaker 2: written to them. How soon are you anticipating that they
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  Speaker 2: could come back to do.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know. We'll wait and see. And I think
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  Speaker 3: there are significant we're trying to get around the health
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  Speaker 3: moorage implications and they seem pretty fuzzy as well. No
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  Speaker 3: one seems to have an idea of what's covert or
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  Speaker 3: what's not covered. But that's why we'll look forward to
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  Speaker 3: whatever advice we get from the police and health minsitism
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  Speaker 3: as regard.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that is very interesting. Please keep in contact with
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  Speaker 2: us and let us know what you do find out.
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  Speaker 3: Look, you might want you might want to ask the
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  Speaker 3: police yourself about it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to say it could be something
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  Speaker 2: we do our list as well.
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  Speaker 1: Dr Parker, all right, good on you. Thanks so much
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  Speaker 1: for your time. As always, no worry, Thank you,