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Katie Woolf spoke with Nursing and Midwifery Union Secretary Cath Hatcher for an update on hospital staff shortages · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is just on twenty minutes after nine o'clock and
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: joining me live on the line, Kath Hatcher from the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Nursing and mid We're reunion here in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Kath, Good morning Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Kat Thanks so much for your time and well for
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: all the time that you've given us over the last
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  Speaker 1: few weeks. Are you able to give us a bit
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  Speaker 1: of an update on the situation around what we have
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: spoken about before as a health crisis in the top
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: end at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Yes. You may have seen it on the news a
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  Speaker 3: few nights ago that there's about twenty ish patients going
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  Speaker 3: to go to Redi's nursing home over the next few
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  Speaker 3: weeks and they're going to do that slowly from Royal
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  Speaker 3: dar and Palmerston Hospital, so that alleviates about I think
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  Speaker 3: it's about twenty two patients a good start, and that
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  Speaker 3: will leave another forty or just under forty still to
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  Speaker 3: go to an age care or disability services. So that
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  Speaker 3: is good news.
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  Speaker 2: It is.
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  Speaker 1: It certainly is particularly for those families who've obviously been
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  Speaker 1: waiting to get their elderly family members into one of
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  Speaker 1: those nursing homes. That is equipped to look after them,
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  Speaker 1: So still about forty to go. Okaz, that's you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's a step in the right direction. How's the stress
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  Speaker 1: on our nurses at the moment, They.
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  Speaker 3: Still are under the pump and still in the crisis
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  Speaker 3: and stressed mode, but that is going to improve over
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  Speaker 3: the next couple of weeks. So there's been some new
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  Speaker 3: staff in orientation last week, so they're out onto the
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  Speaker 3: floor within the wards this week. The emergency department last
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  Speaker 3: beginning of the week was about twenty two full time
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  Speaker 3: equivalent staff down on their roster. Wow, they have had
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  Speaker 3: some start this week and they've got approximately sixteen going
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  Speaker 3: to start in the next three to four weeks. This
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  Speaker 3: is some relief in the next month for those staff.
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  Speaker 2: Kats.
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  Speaker 3: There is other staff going to start. Two new graduates
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  Speaker 3: and those that didn't get a new graduate program they
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  Speaker 3: are also going to start in the next few months.
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  Speaker 1: So, kath you said there about twenty staff under at
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  Speaker 1: the beginning of the week within the emergency department. Is
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  Speaker 1: that across both the Palmerston and Royal Darwin emergency departments.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, their roster is one roster because sometimes they
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  Speaker 3: might work in one week a couple of days at
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  Speaker 3: Palmerston and the rest of the week in Royal Darwin.
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  Speaker 3: So their roster is across the two campuses. So that's
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  Speaker 3: twenty two full time equivalent down on the roster at
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  Speaker 3: the beginning a week. That's what the members told me.
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  Speaker 3: But management are recruiting at the moment and they would
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  Speaker 3: have had eight approximately eight start within this week, perhaps
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  Speaker 3: Thursday today, Yes, they might have started today.
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  Speaker 1: Excellent, So hopefully that eight extra nursing staff starting today
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  Speaker 1: to add to that roster.
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  Speaker 2: It does sound as though we've still got a way
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  Speaker 2: to go.
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  Speaker 3: Though, definitely. And the other sixteen that they're recruiting, I'm
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  Speaker 3: not sure whether they're full time, but sixteen more bodies
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  Speaker 3: into the emergency department across the two campuses will also
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  Speaker 3: help the eight beds that they've closed in the Palmerston Hospital,
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  Speaker 3: which has taken away two staff from Palmerston to be
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  Speaker 3: put into the Royal Darwin. That hasn't been a good
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  Speaker 3: plan for the staff at the moment because there's still
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  Speaker 3: the same amount of patients going to the emergency department
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  Speaker 3: at Palmerston, which is within their rights to do so
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  Speaker 3: to get the medical or surgical care they need, but
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  Speaker 3: they're just having to do a few more transfers, which
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  Speaker 3: takes a staff member away, particularly if they're a higher
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  Speaker 3: risk they need a nurse transfer with them. So they're
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  Speaker 3: not seeing any relief with the Palmerston Ed at the moment, tess.
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  Speaker 1: Is it time like do we need to seriously look
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  Speaker 1: here at closing down the Palmeston Emergency Department?
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  Speaker 2: Is that the answer?
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  Speaker 3: No, you can't do that because it's a hospital. They
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  Speaker 3: actually need to have some sort of emergency back up
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  Speaker 3: for the public. So I think there's probably just need
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  Speaker 3: to be a bit more public awareness. But you know,
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  Speaker 3: who do you know if you're not in the nursing
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  Speaker 3: or medical profession, for someone who lives out in that
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  Speaker 3: rural area or Palmerston area, you're going to go to
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  Speaker 3: the nearest hospital and you know they may then be
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  Speaker 3: asked to transfer to the Royal Darwin Hospital depending on
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  Speaker 3: their needs and their requirements. So it's still going to
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  Speaker 3: be a bit of a problem. But the public just
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  Speaker 3: need to be aware that they may get transferred into
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  Speaker 3: Royal Darwin if they go to Palmston Hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Cass When you look across the board now at those
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  Speaker 1: two at those two hospitals, Palmerston Hospital and also the
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  Speaker 1: Royal Darwin Hospital. I know that last week when you
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  Speaker 1: and I spoke, you spoke of the need for those
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  Speaker 1: one hundred staff. Realistically up to one hundred staff to
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  Speaker 1: come across from overseas. Has there been much of an
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  Speaker 1: update in this space, because it was a fairly hot
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  Speaker 1: topic on Tuesday when I'd interviewed the Health Minister, and
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  Speaker 1: while she said that there is recruitment underway, couldn't tell
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  Speaker 1: us sort of how many staff are potentially coming across
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  Speaker 1: from overseas.
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  Speaker 2: Do you have much insight?
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  Speaker 3: No, I don't have that insight. I do know that
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  Speaker 3: I heard a couple of days ago that the whole
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  Speaker 3: two campuses are just a little over seventy full time
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  Speaker 3: equivalent staff down right across all of the units, and
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  Speaker 3: that would be particularly in the emergency department, theater and
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  Speaker 3: the surgical areas and a few other wards. Alice Springs
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  Speaker 3: has got about one to two full time equivalents down
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  Speaker 3: on each of those wards, and Go Catherine would have
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  Speaker 3: about a five percent your vacancy rate with their hospitals too.
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  Speaker 3: So if we did get one hundred staff from interstate
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  Speaker 3: or overseas, that would alleviate all the public hospitals in
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  Speaker 3: the territory pretty much, and then you would need to
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  Speaker 3: look at the rule and remote clinics because they're in
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  Speaker 3: trouble as well.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Yeah, I was going to say that's something that
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  Speaker 1: we'd spoken to John Patterson from AMSAM briefly about earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the work.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, hundred stuff.
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  Speaker 1: So whether they come from interstate or overseas, Kath I know,
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  Speaker 1: in Western Australia, for example, they've got some really great
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  Speaker 1: incentives to try and you know, really attract.
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  Speaker 2: Nurses from overseas.
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  Speaker 1: I believe it's around eight thousand dollars in those relocation costs.
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  Speaker 1: They're also covering quarantine, etc. Do we need to look
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  Speaker 1: at putting together some kind of package like that in
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  Speaker 1: an effort to fill these vacancies.
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  Speaker 3: With certainty, I do know that Alice Springs Region are
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  Speaker 3: doing that already. They're paying for their removal costs to
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  Speaker 3: Alice Springs, they're paying for their quarantine. I believe in
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  Speaker 3: the top end they're definitely paying for their quarantine. Not sure,
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  Speaker 3: haven't had confirmation of whether they're paying for their removal costs,
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  Speaker 3: but I would hope that that is happening. Across the
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  Speaker 3: central as well as the top end as well.
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  Speaker 1: So kas can I just go back to just for
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  Speaker 1: a moment, you'd said, with those two campuses, So just
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  Speaker 1: over seventy staff down across the Darwin and Palmerston Hospital,
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  Speaker 1: what kind of impact does that have for our nurses,
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  Speaker 1: you know, trying to do their day to day jobs
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  Speaker 1: and really trying to look after patients.
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  Speaker 3: Every day they're doing, you know, looking at one staff
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  Speaker 3: member each week, they would be doing at least a
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  Speaker 3: double shift, if not coming in them, they're day off
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  Speaker 3: and doing another shift. Between the Union US and the
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Department of Health, we're making sure that each staff member
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  Speaker 3: is not going over ridiculous hours in you know, they're
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: forty hours per week plus one to two shifts at
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  Speaker 3: the most and not being ridiculous with their overtime because
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  Speaker 3: then you get the tea and then you get increased
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  Speaker 3: sickly as a result of that. So it is impacting
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  Speaker 3: all of the staff. You know, there are staff that
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  Speaker 3: work part time, and there's a reason that they work
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  Speaker 3: part time because of family commitments, etc. So whether they're
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  Speaker 3: doing extra shifts would be totally up to them. But
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  Speaker 3: they're all doing a fabulous job within the whole two
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  Speaker 3: campuses including Alice Springs as well all around the territory.
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  Speaker 3: They're doing an awesome job and they're going to have
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  Speaker 3: to keep it up for at least another few months,
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  Speaker 3: if not, you know a little bit longer till there's
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  Speaker 3: a bit more recruitment and sustainability within the employment.
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  Speaker 2: So, Kat, that is the answer here at this point.
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  Speaker 1: You know, do you think that realistically that recruitment we've
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  Speaker 1: got to try. You know, we've got to try to
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  Speaker 1: get some of those stuff, whether they're from interstate and overseas.
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  Speaker 2: I know you'd spoken.
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  Speaker 1: About our early graduates as well, but that's the issue here.
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  Speaker 2: We've really got to try and fill those spaces.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, and we need to encourage those through CDU to
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  Speaker 3: put their applications in and you know, cross the t's
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  Speaker 3: and dot the eyes and put the effort in to
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  Speaker 3: get their applications in, to get a graduate position within
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  Speaker 3: the territory and to hope to support the grown, homegrown
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  Speaker 3: nurses and midwife so we can have a really good
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  Speaker 3: sustainable employees within the territory that are going to stay.
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  Speaker 1: Kat, just very quickly, something that had been raised with
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  Speaker 1: me a little bit earlier, in the week by a
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  Speaker 1: nursing student, well actually a very new graduate. She's just finished,
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  Speaker 1: but she's waiting until that intake in February next year.
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  Speaker 2: She said that there aren't you.
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  Speaker 1: Know, there aren't any positions that they're able to get
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  Speaker 1: into before then. Is there any way that we can
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  Speaker 1: speed up some of these graduate nurses getting into the
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  Speaker 1: health system and getting into some of the jobs. I
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  Speaker 1: know that they potentially can't fill those ones where we
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  Speaker 1: need very experienced nurses, but into other roles so that
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  Speaker 1: we can try to get things moving along.
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  Speaker 3: She might be able to try getting a casual contract
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  Speaker 3: and working within the Vaccine Hub or the Howard Springs
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  Speaker 3: Quarantine facility. That may be an option. But they call
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  Speaker 3: it the CLEARS, which is the clinical and Education Research
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  Speaker 3: center that does all the orientation throughout the top end,
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  Speaker 3: and they have specific that they've only got a staff
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  Speaker 3: of three and they are under the pump twenty four
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  Speaker 3: to seven educating, orientating and getting staff up to speed
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  Speaker 3: before there go out onto the wards and into the units.
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  Speaker 3: So the reason why they have a specific number of
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  Speaker 3: intakes is because they've got to work out all the
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  Speaker 3: other education around that as well.
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  Speaker 1: Well. Cas Hatcher. We always appreciate your time. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: so very much for having a chat to us this morning.
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  Speaker 1: In a big shout out to all of our nurses,
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  Speaker 1: but and our doctors, all of the staff at our
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  Speaker 1: hospitals and within our health service. They're doing a phenomenal
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  Speaker 1: job and I know that it is an incredibly difficult time.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you're very welcome.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, Thank you,