Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association’s Catch Hatcher says hospital staff are grateful when a code yellow is called as it means extra help is on the way

Transcript

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association’s Catch Hatcher says hospital staff are grateful when a code yellow is called as it means extra help is on the way · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And well joining me on the line right now from
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: the Nursing and Midway Free Federation here in the Northern
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Terra Trea, it is Caath Hatcher.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Kath, good morning. How are you
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: not too bad?
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Kath?
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: I know that. Well.
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  Speaker 1: Our nurses, as I would imagine, are incredibly busy at
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: the moment. We've got a code yellow in place at
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: both the Palmerston Regional Hospital and also the Royal Darwin Hospital.
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  Speaker 2: What are they telling you at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: The members are very grateful when a code yellow is
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: called because more staff are found and redirected from other
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: areas to where it's the most busiest. So the staff
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  Speaker 3: in say some of the wards and the emergency department
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  Speaker 3: and perhaps in theater, they are very grateful that a
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: code yellow is called. They get that extra help, and
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: they're not so happy when they are almost to stretching
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: beyond capacity and there is not a code that's called.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: That's when they're very upset. You know, they need that
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  Speaker 3: extra help and they're not getting it. So it's a
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  Speaker 3: combination of all of you know, there's too many patients
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  Speaker 3: in the hospital, there's too many waiting in the emergency department,
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  Speaker 3: needing admission and there's no leeway for flexibility with beds
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: in the main block of Royal Darwin and those that
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  Speaker 3: are needing admission from the Palmerston Hospital go to Royal
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  Speaker 3: Darwin Hospital. So it's a big cascade of problems and cats.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Is they telling you right now? I mean, is there
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: double bunking going on? Have we got people in hallways?
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: What are they telling you?
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  Speaker 3: I'm not sure about the people in hallways, but there
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  Speaker 3: would be the definitely double bunking that only happens when
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  Speaker 3: they get really maximum in their numbers through emergency. They
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  Speaker 3: can keep a better eye on them if they're within
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: the cubicles in the emergency department then actually waiting out
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  Speaker 3: in the waiting room. So yes, they're all getting catered
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  Speaker 3: and looked after, but that fluctuation of trying to get
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: patients out that are hopefully able and will enough to
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  Speaker 3: go home for those to be admitted up into the
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  Speaker 3: main block of the hospital. So you know, most hospitals
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  Speaker 3: around Australia try to run at about the ninety to
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  Speaker 3: ninety five percent capacity, but for the last four or
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  Speaker 3: five years at least Royal Dalin's been running somewhere between
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  Speaker 3: one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty percent capacity,
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  Speaker 3: so it's not giving any leeway there of fluctuating up
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  Speaker 3: to fluctuating back down to when they need to wow.
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  Speaker 1: So somewhere between one hundred and twenty and one hundred
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  Speaker 1: and forty percent for the last four or five years.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: Yes, so it's been a problem before COVID. It definitely
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: got more of a problem. Well, probably a little bit
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: more stabilized through COVID. They cut down a lot of
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: elective surgeries, but it's still you know, they're trying to
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: keep the electric service sorry, elected surgery going after you know,
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  Speaker 3: COVID down in their spikes. But then you've got the
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  Speaker 3: other end where you've got lots of people coming in
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  Speaker 3: whatever problem it is, alcohol, other drugs, or any other concerns,
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  Speaker 3: needing ambition, and you've got also elective surgery happening. And
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  Speaker 3: then you know you've got too many age care and
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  Speaker 3: disabilities within the hospital occupying acute beds and they should
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: be in other facilities. So it's a big compound.
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Kas can I ask in terms of the numbers of
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: nurses that we've got right now? You and I have
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  Speaker 1: spoken on numerous acas.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: About their not being enough. How are those numbers tracking currently.
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  Speaker 3: I haven't had an update since we last talked, but
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  Speaker 3: approximately across the top end of one hundred and thirty
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  Speaker 3: full time equivalent down and I wouldn't be surprised if
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  Speaker 3: that's maybe you know, a little bit more than that now,
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  Speaker 3: maybe up to one hundred and fifty. But they are
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: getting fulfilled. But they're getting fulfilled some of those positions
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  Speaker 3: with agencies. The agency nurses are you know, having six
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: or eight week contracts. They're coming from into state or
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  Speaker 3: within the state and they're willing to work or wanting
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  Speaker 3: to work where they want to for a certain amount
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  Speaker 3: of time. So the government is paying paying a lot
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: for nurses and midwives, but that's because of agency staff. Wow.
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  Speaker 1: So but still realistically one hundred and thirty full time
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  Speaker 1: staff down, but that could be up to one hundred FIEL.
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  Speaker 1: That must be tough on our current staff in terms
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  Speaker 1: of their workloads.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and then when you incorporate the Central Australia area
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  Speaker 3: and all the remote areas, probably looking at between three
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  Speaker 3: to three hundred and fifty full time equivalent down right
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  Speaker 3: across the territory. And that's just not in the urban
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  Speaker 3: areas that you know, urban in the community rule and
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  Speaker 3: remote as well, and everyone's working to their absolute maximum.
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  Speaker 3: Plus they're all doing double ships over times. On their
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  Speaker 3: days off, they're not getting that relief of a work
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  Speaker 3: life balance. They're not able to recuperate their energy on
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  Speaker 3: their days off because they're doing extra shifts.
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: Oh, it is tough going.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, our nurses by their very nature are
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  Speaker 1: caring and do a phenomenal job. And you know, to
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  Speaker 1: think of them being that understaffed, did it be really tough?
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  Speaker 3: Cas?
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  Speaker 2: Can I ask you?
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  Speaker 1: Know, you and I have spoken honestly lot over the
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: last couple of years about the issues every time there
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  Speaker 1: is a code yellow and every time that that staff
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  Speaker 1: are understress. We know our nurses do a tremendous job,
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  Speaker 1: as do all of the other staff at the hospital
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  Speaker 1: and support roles, doctors, everyone, But you know, it seems
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  Speaker 1: to be that it's the same issues every time that
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  Speaker 1: we speak. You know, it seems to be that we've
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  Speaker 1: got seventy odd beds that are taken up by age
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  Speaker 1: care patients who should be in a more appropriate facility.
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  Speaker 1: It seems as though we're understaffed. You know, it seems
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  Speaker 1: as though the issues aren't changing. What needs to happen Cash.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: I think you know there was a problem before COVID,
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  Speaker 3: but COVID's just made it will come to the top
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  Speaker 3: and like a big pimple in it. Now it's first
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  Speaker 3: and the people that perhaps were going to stay on
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  Speaker 3: another couple of years and then retire, they've retired early.
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  Speaker 3: All those that are up and coming and they've come
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  Speaker 3: through their graduate program and realize how busy and consistent
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  Speaker 3: and absolutely flat chat they are with every shift, so
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  Speaker 3: they're getting flogged. They see that as I'm not sure
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  Speaker 3: that I want to continue my career in nursing or
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: midware free, so they go back to university and maybe
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: choose another career path, or they stop working to sort
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  Speaker 3: themselves out of what they're going to do. Those that
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  Speaker 3: maybe we're going to retire in ten years time may
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: have taken a break for a while because they're burnt
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  Speaker 3: out and we can't just put new graduates into the
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  Speaker 3: specialty areas like emergency department, theater, ICU, renal areas like that.
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  Speaker 3: They need that extra support and education and extra education
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  Speaker 3: on top of what they've already done in the three
• 7:54
  Speaker 3: years in their university so we do have a bottom heavy,
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  Speaker 3: fantastic new graduates coming through and lots of up and
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  Speaker 3: coming novice nurses and midwives, but we just don't have
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  Speaker 3: that real experience and the mid range there at the moment,
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  Speaker 3: they've either decided not to continue working in nursing because
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  Speaker 3: they're fatigued and they burnt out, or you know, they
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  Speaker 3: might have some mental health problems and they've retired early
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  Speaker 3: because they just can't do the clinical physical exhaustion anymore.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Katz.
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  Speaker 1: Now, in terms of the issues that we see with alcohol,
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  Speaker 1: and I know you mentioned alcohol and other drugs just
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: a little while ago. We did ask Robert Parker about
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: this earlier this morning. The opposition has made claims the
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: lifting of the alcohol band with the stronger futures legislation
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  Speaker 1: that it has added extra pressure to our healthcare system.
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  Speaker 1: Robert Parker said, well, it is a fact of certainty.
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  Speaker 2: What's your take on this? Do you think that it
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  Speaker 2: has made a difference.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Well, I haven't heard any report backs from our members
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  Speaker 3: or any statistics, but I wouldn't be surprised that it
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  Speaker 3: has increased the impact with statistics throughout the territory. And
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  Speaker 3: it's always been a problem right from you know, forty
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  Speaker 3: years ago when I started nursing, it was a problem,
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  Speaker 3: but it has escalated huge over those four decades. And
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  Speaker 3: alcohol and definitely other drugs are a problem, and the
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  Speaker 3: continual use causes mental health issues, and they're needing more
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  Speaker 3: you know, in patient facilities in the mental health disease sorry,
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  Speaker 3: mental health units when they've you know, detopped from the
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  Speaker 3: alcohol or the other drug drugs. So definitely, I wouldn't
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  Speaker 3: be surprised if that has increased.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: Well, Cath Hatcher, I always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 1: Is there anything else we should be aware of before
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  Speaker 1: I let you?
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: No? That's about it, except you know, we're still at
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  Speaker 3: the table with our negotiations with the enterprise agreement, and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: we're trying to get the increase of two percent up
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: to a higher percentage that may hopefully meet the CPI
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: which is six point one. And all of our counter
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: parts within other states are getting much better outcomes from
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: the government with a decent enterprise agreement, but we're all
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: still at the table negotiating that.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Well, Kath, I hope that you know that the government
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: does come to the table and sort something out, otherwise
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  Speaker 1: we're going to run the risk of losing more of
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  Speaker 1: our nurses I would suspect to interstate.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely definitely.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Kath Hatcher, I always appreciate your time. Thank you
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: so very much for having a chat with me this morning.
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: You're very welcome, Katie, thank you