Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles on the increase in numbers at Howard Springs

Transcript

Katie Woolf spoke with Health Minister Natasha Fyles on the increase in numbers at Howard Springs · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now, as I mentioned, we usually catch up with the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Chief Minister, Michael Gunner on a Monday. He's not available
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: today so we will speak to him later in the week.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: But stepping in this morning is the Health Minister at
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Tasha Files. Good morning, Minister, Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and happy International Women's Day.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Same to you, Katie.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Now, Minister, when are these additional Aussies going to start
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: arriving in Darwin?
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we've seen something that grew organically from those
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: first repatriation flights from Wuhand and the Diamond Princess that
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: was formalized and in October we started to see that
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: regular schedule of flights. What the announcement was on Friday
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: is that from May we will see around two thousand
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: Australians who've been caught up overseas repatriated through the Howard
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Springs facility each fortnighte.
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: So from around May so we'll.
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Begin increasing the numbers through April and we expect to
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: see two thousand per fortnite in May rolling through that facility.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Was it a directive of the Prime Minister Scott Morrison
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: that the management of this facility change from the National
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Critical Key of Trauma Response Center to the Northern Territory
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: government's Department of Health.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I'd probably need to peel that question back
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: a little bit to make Territorians understand the Territory Controller
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: has always sat a top of this. He is responsible
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: in the sense.
• 1:12
  Speaker 4: So by Territory Controller you mean the Commissioner.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Sorry, And so it's part of our emergency management processes.
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: And what we saw out of Victoria was there was
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: no clear accountability in terms of who was making those
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: final decisions. So the Territory Controller has always sat at
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: the top of our decision making process and then we
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: have the layers underneath it. So in terms of the
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: directive from the Commonwealth, No, the Commonwealth has been working
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: with us around the proposal to expand this facility and
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: it's been talked about in the community and the media.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, so why are you changing the way that the
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: international arrivals are going to be managed at this facility?
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Ie?
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Why is the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Center,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: who are at the top of their game, internationally recognized
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: for their amazing work. Wouldn't it be logical to have
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Lenna Taras, who heads up their center, manage this.
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: So Katie, the shorter short answer is the clinical model
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: remains unchanged, but what we are changing is the governance structure.
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: And it will take me a little moment to go
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: into that detail, but.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Can I just say though I can't understand how the
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: clinical model remains unchanged, but the team that's managing it
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: is going to change.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: So the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Center traditionally deploy.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: They deploy for two or three weeks. They're made up
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: of a team of around eight hundred that are based
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: around Australia. We're preparing and this expansion of the facility
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: acknowledges this is a twelve month plan, Katie, at least
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: twelve months, and so we need to have the structures
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: in place so that there is certainty. So that clinical
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: governance model, the clinical model which National Critical Care and
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Trauma Response Center have set up, is what will stay
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: in place. But the governance out at Howard Springs right
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: now we have the domestic side on the international side,
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: it's going to come together as one facility.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: So to break that down for our listeners, what you're
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: saying essentially is that the Department of Health is going
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: to try to manage that whole facility in the same
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: way the National Critical Care and Trauma Response Center have
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: previously been managing it.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: So the practices, the infectious disease protocols that they've put
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: in place will remain. So, Katie, the territory controller presently,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: as I said earlier, sits at the top. You then
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: have the two sides, domestic and international. We'll have one side,
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: and that's acknowledging.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: That the hotspots.
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: There'll always be room if we need beds for quarantining
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: from a territory hot spot perspective. But with the last
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: Melbourne outbreak, Katie, we saw less than one hundred beds needed.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: We have over three thousand beds at that facility, so
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: we're saying two thousand repatriations per fortnite is manageable. But
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: in terms of your listeners, I know they've got concerns
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: around you know, they've seen OZMAT run this fantastic facility
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: for the past you know, twelve months. It began organically
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: and then it grew into that structured model for the
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: last six months. But their practices will absolutely be the
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: basis for this.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Well, that might be the plan, but I think that
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: you know, without them in there, Without that ozmat team
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: in there, things are going to be quite different. I
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: would suspect Minister was Lenda Taras, who heads up then
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: our Critical Care and Trauma Response Center, happy with this change.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I've been working with the Acting Chief Executive
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: of Health, Lenataris, as the Director of Critical Care and
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: Trauma Response Center and the Territory Controller through my ministerial
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: portfolio as Minister for National Resilience, and that work will continue.
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: We saw the announcement on Friday that we're going to
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: head towards two thousand. We have agreed to that with
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: the Commonwealth Government. But what will happen now is we'll
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: sign a subclause as part of the National Partnership Agreement
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: for Health for the funding and the finite details.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: So was Len Nataris?
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Was he part of the you know, was he part
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: of the decision making process for this change?
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, so both the Police Commissioner and Len and
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: I don't want to verbal Len. I know that he'd
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: be happy to speak with you as well, but we
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: both met with Cabinet for example last week. I've spoken
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: to him regularly and so my minister or portfolio is
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: the Minister for the Center for National Resilience is to
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: stabilize this model.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: So we've got a twelve month plan.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: We need to remember that OSMACK may need to deploy
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: not only to a natural deser or an emergency, but
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: I see them as a key part of rolling out
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: the vaccination. For example, in the South Pacific.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Minister, if you're the Minister for National Resilience, why were
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: you not at that event on Friday?
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, what happened on Friday was the Chief Minister
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: made an update out of National Cabinet and he made
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: announcements around both this and the vaccine. Of course, I'm
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: always available to speak to the media. I was at
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: other engagements on Friday afternoon, but certainly it was just
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: a briefing off the back of National cabinets.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: So why was lend nataris not there?
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: I mean because to me, we're talking about the whole
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: structure and the whole way in which this center is
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: managed changing. I know that you're saying that the Police
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Commission has always been on top and that you know
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: you're going to implement the same procedures and protocols is
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: what the OSMAT team have, But the reality is they're
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: being transitioned out. You know, no matter how we put it,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: they're being transitioned out. If they're happy with this happening,
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: and if you're happy with this happening, why.
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: Weren't either of you at the press conference?
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: So Katie, I just explained that the Chief Minister came
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: out of National Cabinet to provide an update to Territorians.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: There's certainly plenty of time for both myself and Len
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: and everyone involved to explain these processes and we will
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: make sure Territorians understand this because that is really important.
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: But I just need to explain with OZMA. So people,
• 6:16
  Speaker 3: those eight hundred osmatis as they're referred to, they come
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: from not only NT health and logistics experts in the territory, but.
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: From around Australia.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: They traditionally leave their day jobs for two to three
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: weeks to deploy, and so a casual might backfill them,
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: they might defer work that they were going to do.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: For example, what we're acknowledging is to have two thousand
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: Australians perpatriated every fortnight. We need a steady, stable workforce
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: for twelve months, so someone can leave their position at
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: ARDIH and go across to this for twelve months and
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: they may be an ozmat person, they may be trained
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: in ozmat, but they'll come and work under this banner
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: of national Critical Care and trauma response, or we may
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: employ people into those roles. It will be a mixture
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: to get to that five hundred personnel.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Okay, I've got a lot that i want to get
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: through this morning. Now, I know that the Chief Minister
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: and yourself the government have said all along that this
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: is a health emergency. If this is a health emergency,
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: why is it being managed by the Police Commissioner.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, this is our emergency structure. It's kept us
• 7:12
  Speaker 3: safe through COVID to date, it will continue to keep
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: us safe. And it is acknowledging that there has to
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: be someone that the final buck stops with, and that
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: is the Territory Control of the Police Commission.
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: If something goes wrong, he's the one that's going to
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: cop it.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: So there is structures around it.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: We have that the SEMPSE, which is the sub meeting
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: of Cabinet around emergencies, and yes, the Territory Controller is
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: the final you know, it's not that we have black
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: and white decisions and you know, generally everything is worked
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: through in a robust scenario. But absolutely the territory controller
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: is a top of that structure for emergencies in the territory.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Now, this isn't a flood, it's not a cyclone. We
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: are talking again about a health pandemic. We've moved from
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: worrying about people breaking out of the facility obviously, to
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: making sure that once that capacity actually increases, we don't
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: see spread Again, I'm going to ask you, why do
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: you think that that response is best led by the police.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, this is the structure in terms of the
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: territory controller that we've always had. He's always sat atop that.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: So the clinical decisions, the clinical model is not changing,
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: and it's in this sense, as I've explained before, the
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: domestic and the international coming together as one governance structure.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: But as far as the clinical decisions, that process will
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: stay in place, and then the territory controller sits atop.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: So who's making the clinical decisions.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: So that is the model that has been developed by
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: OZMA working in those highly infectious disease environments, and so
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: it will be all of those protocols will continue under
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: this new one governance structure.
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: So all right, So we've got the police commissioner now
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: overseeing everything. He is, he's in charge for everything, you know,
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: right over the top. But you've just said that in
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: terms of those clinical decisions, it formerly was OZMAT.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, what I'm saying is during a declared emergency,
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: which the pandemic is, everybody in every action reports into
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: the territory controller as the final decision maker. In terms
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: of the clinical training and the clinical governance and those
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: processes they have been over the past twelve months developed
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: by OZMAT. Everyone's been trained in those and those processes
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: will stay the same. But it will come under this
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: banner as the Center for National Resilience, and there'll be
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: a twelve month plan.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: But ultimately we are talking about having to increase the
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: workforce at this center by four hundred people, and then
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: what you guys are proposing happens here. You know, we've
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: seen that the OZMAT team, the National Critical Care and
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: Trauma Response Center has been the gold standard throughout all
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: of this. You know, we've all spoken about the amazing
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: work that they do. But rather than keeping them on
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: or rather than even a small portion of that team
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: staying on board, what we're doing is transitioning them out
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: and bringing in a whole, you know, a whole new crew.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: I would think that as we're increasing this capacity, and
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: as we've got a situation where the Northern Territory's risk
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: is going to be increased with those increased numbers, that
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: the sensible thing to do would actually be to keep
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: that team in there for as long as as long
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: as possible, as long as tenable, so that they can
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: not only train those new staff that we're going to
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: bring in from goodness knows where, but actually make sure
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: that they continue to do everything properly.
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I need to answer that question in a
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: couple of parts. Their practices will continue the same, strong
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: clinical governance, the infectious disease protocols, all of that will
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: continue under this new governance structure. The clinical processes will
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: stay the same.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: The second thing is some.
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: People have stuff mate not just from Ozmat actually staying
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: at the center to make sure that that's the case.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: So it's just about to say some of those people
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: that have been wearing an OSMAT shirt and been working
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: in that facility will continue, but OZMAT will be able
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: to deploy if needed. So some of the people will
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: say yes, I'm going to stay for twelve months. And
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: as I said earlier, OSMAT traditionally deploys for two or
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: three weeks, and so their structure is designed around that.
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: This is acknowledging that we need to get all these
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: Australians home. It's a twelve month plan and so the
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: governance structure of the Howard Springs facility will come as
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: one facility. And I've already pointed out to listeners that
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: a hotspot policy will remain and if we need beds,
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: but we believe that will be a lot less. But
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: absolutely if someone is working there now wearing an oz
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: MAT shirt and they want to stay, there will be
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: room for them to do so. But if someone who's
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: wearing an ozs MAT shirt says no, I want to
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: go back to my day job and be deployable to
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: help roll out vaccines or respond to natural disasters, they
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: will be able to do that.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Minister, how are you going to recruit four hundred people
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: four hundred staff during a pandemic? So, Katie, that's what
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: these plans going in place for twelve months is really important.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: People right now have been stepping up out of their
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: day jobs, perhaps doing extra or have perhaps not had that.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Day job backfield.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: So knowing these plans are in plant in place for
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: twelve months, they can step across and take that for
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: twelve months in their usual position, can be backfilled, or
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: we may recruit someone new into those positions. But we'll
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: be growing the workforce from one hundred to five hundred,
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: and that is a range of positions. They're not just
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: clinical positions. There's logistics, there's auditing, There's a lot of
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: aspects out there that will be set up to run
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: this facility for the next twelve months.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: So essentially, are we hoping to recruit people and bring
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: them from interstate or are you thinking that you're going
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to have people that maybe work at RDH or the
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Palmeston Hospital or other areas come across and work at
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: how It springs.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: So the roles are varied. They're not all clinicals.
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: So it may be that some people come across from
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: our existing health facilities. It may be that there are
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: other territories here that want to get involved. It may
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: be someone that's unemployed, or it may be someone that
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: re recruit from interstate.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: It will be a mixture.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: Will you be using agency staff in terms of some
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: of those medical professionals that we need to bring across.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Are you going to need to use you know, or
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: you're going to need to use agencies to recruit people
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: and then use agency staff.
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: So we've done a great deal of work, particularly in
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: the nursing aspect of health in the territory, and we've
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: stepped away from a reliance on agency stuff. Going to
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: rule anything in or out at this point, But what
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: I can say is those five hundred jobs are mixed jobs.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: They're varied.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: They could be people that are here in our community
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: that are looking for a change. They might be someone
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: that moves to the territory, or yes, they could be
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: someone coming out of an existing role. But we know
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: they're going to go across for twelve months, so we
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: need to fill that other position for twelve months at least.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: You must can see though it's going to be a
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: tough task to try and recruit four hundred people.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: This is a massive task setting this facility up, but
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: there's opportunity for the territory here. We've led through COVID
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: nineteen Katie. We haven't had that community transmission, we haven't
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: seen any deaths. We've helped and as I said, it
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: grew organically those first flights where we stepped up, and
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: that was very short notice, Katie, when we accepted those
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: refugees sorry, repatriated Australians from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: What this is is acknowledging we have a facility out
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: at Howard Springs and there will be Katie, upgrades to
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: the infrastructure out there. There'll need to be significant refits
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: to make it work across all of those beds. We've
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: been using a number, but there's more that we'll need
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: to come online. But this is a significant body of work,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: but I believe that we can do.
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: It, Minister.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: People move from all over the country, obviously to be
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: part of that national Critical Care and Trauma Response Center or.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: The OZMAT team. I'm told by.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Health professionals that it is seen as a real stepping
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: stone into other areas of crisis health management. Do you
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: think that people are honestly going to move from other
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: locations to work at essentially what many we'll see as
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: being similar to medi hotels which are operating in other states.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Katie, I disagree with you on that point. This is
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: not going to be some second class operation. It is
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: still going to have all those principles. People don't move
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: to the territory to become part of OZMAT. OSMAT has
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: around eight hundred professionals that are from around Australia. Yes,
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: it's based here in the territory and that's a wonderful
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: opportunity for us. But I believe that in expanding this
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: facility we will keep those clinical practices that are being
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: developed by National Critical Current and Trauma Response Center, but
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: we provide certainty for the starf working the facility and
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: also for the jobs that they leave to come across Minister.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: As of the end of February, since those repatriation flights
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: to the Northern Territory began on the twenty third of
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: October last year, we've had four thousand, six hundred and
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: six international arrivals quarantine at the Howard Springs Center for
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: National Resilience. Sixty seven positive COVID nineteen cases have been
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: reported from international repatriations. You'd have to say that the
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: management of these arrivals and the containment.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: Of that spread is largely attributed.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: To the amazing work which has been undertaken by that
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: OZMAT team. You're now going to be increasing dramatically the
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: number of arrivals and the territory's risk of spread. I
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: just can't understand why you guys are now going to
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: change something which isn't broken and potentially put the Northern
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: Territory at greater risk.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: And we're not changing that clinical model, Katie, what we're seeing.
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: You understand how you guys keep saying that when you're
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: taking out the National Critical Care and Trauma Response.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: Teamational Critical Care and Trauma Response Team have been in there,
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: operating the clinical practices and providing the support around those individuals.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: Those same practices will continue, but this is acknowledging that
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: this model will go on for at least twelve months.
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: We're bringing the facility together under one governance model, and
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: I've already spoken about the need for less beds for
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: the domestic side. But I can absolutely assure territorians that
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: the facility, everyone working there will still receive that comprehensive
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: and expert training those practice that have been set up.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: It's just that OZMAT will be able to deploy if
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: needed for natural disasters and other aspects. They're going back
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: to what they've been doing, but they're leaving in place
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: all of their good.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: Work, So did they want to get out of it?
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Katie.
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: In terms of OZMAD and the arrangement, what has happened
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: is some people come across for two or three weeks.
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: Other people have been out there at the facility the
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: whole time, and so if they want to stay on
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: and be a part of this into the future, they're
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: absolutely welcomed. We encourage that, We want that, but we
• 17:01
  Speaker 3: also need OZMA to know what resources they've got so
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: in case they are called upon to deploy, and so
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: this is the most responsible way of delivering that for
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: at least the next twelve months.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: Mister, many of us in the territory at the moment,
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: we know you and I spoke about this on Friday
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: during the week that was Crime is an issue that
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: a lot of people are really concerned with at the moment.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: We're now talking about our police commissioner overseeing this center
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: for National Resilience. I know that you've explained that that
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: is you know, that is the usual practice and that's
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: been the case for some time. But realistically, do we
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: need our police commissioner to be doing that when we
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: have an issue with crime?
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, that's the emergency structure in the territory and
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: I won't repeat the words that I've said. That would
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: be a question for the Territory Controller and the Police
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Commissioner around what resources and what capability is. But I
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: certainly think he's got the capability to do it, and
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: this is the structure that has been in place since
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: that public health emergency was declared around twelve months ago.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Will it be a distraction though, Katie, that would be
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: a question for the Police Commissioner and the Minister for Police.
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: But what I can say is the territory can troller
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: has sat in this position for approximately the last twelve
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: months when we first declared that public health emergency.
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: One thing that you definitely do have control over is
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: the staff at the hospital. Two weeks ago there was
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: that code yellow at the hospital. Insiders tell us that
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the hospital is at capacity. We've had those six surgeon
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: positions obviously which can't be filled. Nurses are doing double shifts,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: but we're now going to be taking on this extra strain.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Do you really think it's doable?
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, in terms of those repatriated Australians that have
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: come back in, they have been managed. The ones that
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: have been COVID positive within the Howard Springs facility. There
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: has been a very very small number that have needed
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: to access our health services and some of those have
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: been repatriated back into other centers in Australia. In terms
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: of World's Own hospital, we know it's one of the
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: busiest hospitals in the country and we did see the
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: code yellow. We talked about this on Friday, Katie. The
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: patient's safety, of course, is always a priority for us.
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: Our staff work very hard. I've gone away in us
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: the apartment to make sure that when we do hit
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: and the code yellow is a formalized part of health
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: that if you hit a certain capacity you have to
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: issue that and then certain practices happen within the hospital.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: I've adds to make sure that we communicate that clearly
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: with the public so they understand. I apologize again that
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: that didn't happen last week, but it is one of
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: the busiest hospitals in the country. But I don't believe
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: these extrapatriated Australians will be a burden on our health
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: system for the reasons I've outlined.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: Essentially, though, we are talking about and I know I've
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: covered this, but we are talking about such a huge
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: number of staff to man that Center for National Resilience,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And I do believe that we need to do our part,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: obviously as Aussie's to try and support Australians wanting to
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: come back into the country, but not at the risk
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: of Territorians.
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: And that's really what I'm getting at.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, what are you going to do if there
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: is an increased number of cases at that center and
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: we see community transmission?
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, I think the reasons that you just pointed
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: out highlight why we need to go to a twelve
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: month structure, put plans in place for twelve months so
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: that we can make sure that people if they want
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: to leave their position at Roald Darwin or Palmeston Hospital
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: or a primary healthcare clinic and come and work at
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: the Howards Brings Center for National Resilience, their position is backfield.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: But then we're already understaffed at those hospitals, Like we're
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: already got nurses doing double shifts. So do you see
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: what I'm getting at? Were then I'm sort of going, well,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: how are we going to make sure we've got enough
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: staff across all of those areas?
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: Because the OSMAT model relies on people deploying for two
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: or three weeks and their position may not necessarily be backfilled.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: This structure for twelve months.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: We need five hundred people to run the Center for
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: National Resilience, and Katie, those five hundred people, I think
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: it's important for people to note they're mainly well and
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: even when they do get unwell, they're mildly unwell, and
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: we can care for them at that facility. That five
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: hundred is clean as caterer is, people responsible for auditing, etc.
• 20:45
  Speaker 3: Our hospital. If people do choose to go across to
• 20:48
  Speaker 3: work at that center, we can know that they're gone
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: four twelve months and backfield those positions.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: All right, what are you going to do if there
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: is community transmission?
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we've always worked with the Commonwealth around this.
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: These lights come in, people are quarantined for two weeks.
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: If we were to start to see an impact that
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: we couldn't manage her in the territory, we would go
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: back to the Commonwealth. This is negotiated through a national
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: partnership agreement and that is what we're working on over
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: the coming days, finalizing that with the Commonwealth, so that
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: territory is protected, the territory tax payer is protected. All
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: of this is paid for by the Commonwealth, but we're
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: clearly meeting our obligations around that.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: Is that what this is all about that it is
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: going to be a financial benefit to the.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: Territory, Katie, absolutely not. We have a facility.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: When that IMPEX workers camp was vacated, there was a
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: lot of ideas thrown around around what to do with it.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: We didn't realize that it would become such an asset
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: to our community going forward with a global health pandemic.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: So yes, every cost is covered by the Commonwealth. There
• 21:46
  Speaker 3: is going to be infrastructure changes. They do need to
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: refit some of the spaces out there so that work
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: will be there. But this is certainly not purely about dollars.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: Are we going to be making money though from this?
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: So, Katie, we won't be making money, so to speak.
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: But what we will do is be re enumerated by
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: the Commonwealth for every cost that the Northern Territory government occurs.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: How much, Katie, I don't have and we're working through
• 22:10
  Speaker 3: the figures for this next twelve month agreement, but I
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: can update territories and this figure was public with the
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: last repatriations that we took from October three to about
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: now the Commonwealth Partnership Agreement was worth around two hundred
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: and fifty million dollars.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Well, we are going to have to leave it there,
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: Minister for Health as well as the Minister for the
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: Center for National Resilience.
• 22:30
  Speaker 4: We appreciate your time today.
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katie.
• 22:32
  Speaker 4: Natasha Files there