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Katie Woolf spoke with Opposition Spokesperson for Health Bill Yan · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: And joining us on the line right now to talk
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  Speaker 1: more about the health situation is well. Bill Yan, the
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  Speaker 1: opposition spokesperson for Health with the COLP, Good morning to you, Bill.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Good morning to all the listeners there
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  Speaker 2: in Darwin.
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  Speaker 1: Bill. This has been a real point of contention that
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  Speaker 1: we've been discussing now for quite a few weeks. We
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  Speaker 1: did just catch up with Caath Hatcher, the head of
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  Speaker 1: the Nursing Union, just a little while ago, and she
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  Speaker 1: made it pretty bluntly clear for us across two campuses
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  Speaker 1: in Darwin, at Royal Darwin Hospital and also at the
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  Speaker 1: Palmerston Regional Hospital, just over seventy staff down across those
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  Speaker 1: two hospitals from earlier. That was the number from earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the week. We need to get these stuff, We
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  Speaker 1: need to get more stuff in there and try and
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  Speaker 1: ease some of this burden, don't we. That's not even
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  Speaker 1: taking into account Alice Springs, Catherine Nullen Boy and the
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  Speaker 1: remote clinics.
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  Speaker 2: No, that's right, Katie. Like the pressure now that all
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  Speaker 2: the staff at Royald Island Ron, it's the nurse than
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  Speaker 2: everybody else that are there that are picking up the
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  Speaker 2: slack is getting to the breaking point and we've seen
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  Speaker 2: that also across the territory. I'm hearing issues out in
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  Speaker 2: communities where there's issues on communities now because the clinics
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  Speaker 2: there have been closed down. Of course they're not able
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  Speaker 2: to look after some of the oldest, stronger people who
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  Speaker 2: are looking up for communities. They've had to move into
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  Speaker 2: town and that's caused now social issues in the community.
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  Speaker 2: So this this shortage has a really large flow and
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  Speaker 2: effect to territories across the board.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I spoke to the Health Minister Natasha Philes earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the week and really questioned, you know, what they
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  Speaker 1: are doing in an effort to try to recruit staff
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  Speaker 1: to fill these positions. One hundred staff is what we'd
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  Speaker 1: heard from cath last last week and looking at bringing
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  Speaker 1: them from overseas and you know, whether they come from
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  Speaker 1: overseas or into state, it seems that the message is
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  Speaker 1: pretty clear it needs to happen sooner rather than later.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, what do you think do we need to
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  Speaker 1: be offering some kind of recruitment campaign to bring people
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  Speaker 1: across oh I have no doubt.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, we need to be forefront in our recruiting because
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  Speaker 2: the rest of Australia's also recruiting, so our health and
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  Speaker 2: our government needs to sell the Northern Territory as.
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  Speaker 3: The place to come and the place to come and work.
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  Speaker 2: But I've been onto the Anti government's website for employment
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  Speaker 2: and I think there's only fifty jobs advertised across nursing.
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  Speaker 2: But what worries me is that most of those jobs
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  Speaker 2: are for our fixed term contracts. They're not ongoing full time,
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  Speaker 2: so it doesn't provide a lot of I suppose stability
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  Speaker 2: for those people who are looking to come up. If
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  Speaker 2: I've come up and get a job, am I still
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  Speaker 2: going to have a job in six months, twelve months
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  Speaker 2: or two years. People might be move here permanently, so
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  Speaker 2: they need permanent.
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  Speaker 1: Jobs, so you reckon, you know, rather than us offering
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  Speaker 1: those contract positions, they need to be offering something more permanent.
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  Speaker 1: If we want to get people to move here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, if we want to attract people to move and
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  Speaker 2: live and be part of the territory, why would you
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  Speaker 2: go or why would you come here if you're only
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  Speaker 2: going to get a short term contract and you don't
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  Speaker 2: know if that's going to be on it. Put these
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  Speaker 2: things up. Put these jobs up as permanent, full time
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  Speaker 2: employees and get some incentives to try and get people
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  Speaker 2: to come up and work here. It's the only way
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  Speaker 2: that we're going to address the shortfall. All the ideas
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  Speaker 2: we've put forward about bringing overseas nurses, there's nurses from
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  Speaker 2: overseas that have got equivalent quolls to what our nurses
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  Speaker 2: here in the territory have. We've just done it with
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  Speaker 2: age care workers. Sorry, the federal government has. There's bought
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  Speaker 2: over people for age care, So why can't the nord
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  Speaker 2: Territory do it for nurses and Bill?
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  Speaker 1: This is something that the CLP has actually spoken to
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  Speaker 1: the Health Minister, Greg Hunt about, haven't you.
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  Speaker 2: We've been in contact with Greg Hunt and Greg Hunt's
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  Speaker 2: office about this last week, with Greg this morning. Actually, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: there's support from the federal government for this, so I said.
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  Speaker 2: The federal government have been able to achieve it in agecare,
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  Speaker 2: so it's certainly we have the ability to achieve that
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  Speaker 2: for nursing. So let's get on with it. Let's crack
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  Speaker 2: on our startup and our hospitals and our healthcare system.
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  Speaker 2: Across the board said they're a breaking point and that's
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  Speaker 2: seen by these four code yellows now and the closure
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  Speaker 2: a number of our remote clinics or in fact reduced
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  Speaker 2: services or those services at all. We can't continue down
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  Speaker 2: this road. It's affecting the very fabric and fiber of
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  Speaker 2: our community.
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  Speaker 3: Bill.
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  Speaker 1: In that meeting that you'd had or in that discussion
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  Speaker 1: that you'd had with the Health Minister Greg Hunt this morning,
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  Speaker 1: the federal health minister, what did you say to him
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  Speaker 1: about our current health situation.
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  Speaker 2: Well, the federal minister is certainly aware of the issues
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  Speaker 2: that we face and there's other jurisdictions of facing similar
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  Speaker 2: issues that the funding is being given to the territory
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  Speaker 2: government from the federal government to now utilize that appropriately.
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  Speaker 2: So it's pretty straightforward. The territory governmentor funded for staff
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  Speaker 2: and for nurses and funded extra now to run the
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  Speaker 2: Howard Springs facility, and that's not working out particularly well
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  Speaker 2: for our health system. It's get on with the job Bill.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think that the federal government needs to take
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  Speaker 1: back over the Howard Springs facility.
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  Speaker 2: It's something that we're calling for, Katie from the SALP,
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  Speaker 2: because we're given assurances that we wouldn't lose.
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  Speaker 3: Staff across to Howard Springs. This was back in estimates
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  Speaker 3: there was no staff from our health sector working at
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  Speaker 3: Howard Springs and now, based on the information from Cathacha
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  Speaker 3: his best place to know what's actually going on. There's
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  Speaker 3: forty plus people there, which has now put a burden
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  Speaker 3: on our health system.
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  Speaker 2: Looks, let's get our staff back into our hospitals. Let's
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  Speaker 2: work with the federal government to get them to go
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  Speaker 2: back and look after those international repatriations coming into how
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  Speaker 2: It Springs so we can look after our territory. In
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  Speaker 2: People First.
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  Speaker 1: Bill, what about these discussions that are being had about
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  Speaker 1: the Palmerston Hospital's emergency clinic. I mean, is it time
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  Speaker 1: for it to be closed? Cath Thatcher said no, we
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  Speaker 1: need to keep it operational. But people just need to
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  Speaker 1: be aware that you know that they may then be
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  Speaker 1: transferred across to Royal Darwin Hospital. What do we need
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  Speaker 1: to do if you were in charge, what would you
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  Speaker 1: be doing with the Palmerston Hospital, particularly the emergency department. O.
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  Speaker 2: Look, we've got to keep the emergency department at Palmerston
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  Speaker 2: Hospital open. That service is a huge region of Darwin,
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  Speaker 2: Palmerston and all of rural Era. And I've said this
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  Speaker 2: on numerous occasions that in emergency situation, minutes matter. If
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  Speaker 2: people have got to If we close down our emergency
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  Speaker 2: capability at Palmston Hospital and people in those rural and
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  Speaker 2: Partner's got to go all the way to Darl creates
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  Speaker 2: an unnecessary risk for those people when we've got a
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  Speaker 2: perfectly fully functioning emergency department sitting there at Parmson. So no,
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  Speaker 2: can't close Palmerston emergency department, but we're called for let's
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  Speaker 2: look at ideas to maybe repurpose some of what Palmson
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  Speaker 2: Hospital is as far as age care and mental health goes.
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  Speaker 2: There may be some capability. The healthcare professionals are talking
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  Speaker 2: to us about it, so we're listening to them and
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  Speaker 2: we're putting the ideas forward to government.
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  Speaker 1: So make it more of an age care and mental
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  Speaker 1: health facility.
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  Speaker 2: Well, if the beds are there and they're not utilized,
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  Speaker 2: and ARDIH is being taken up with people with those
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  Speaker 2: aged care and those mental health requirements, certainly why not
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  Speaker 2: do something with Parmesan repurpose part of that and whilst
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  Speaker 2: they get the age care beds actually built that they've
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  Speaker 2: been talking about now for quite some time.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Bill, it's certainly a discussion which is going to
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  Speaker 1: be continued to be had. I know that you know,
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  Speaker 1: our health system is one that everybody wants to ensure
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  Speaker 1: is up to where it needs to be, so that
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  Speaker 1: if we are crook, we've got somewhere to go. I
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  Speaker 1: always appreciate your time. Thanks so much for having a
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  Speaker 1: chat with us today.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much, Katie. I'll talk to you again soon.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds good.