1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,640
Speaker 1: Know that there are a lot of challenges and pressure

2
00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,960
Speaker 1: on Royal Darwin Hospital. They've again been thrust into the

3
00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:11,600
Speaker 1: spotlight following a special report on ABC Now. Budget blowout's,

4
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,240
Speaker 1: a crippling shortage of beds, constant code yellows and high

5
00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,640
Speaker 1: staff turnover are just some of the issues which were

6
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,160
Speaker 1: being reported on on their state line program impacting the hospital.

7
00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:24,680
Speaker 1: Joining us on the line to tell delve a bit

8
00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,000
Speaker 1: more into this issue and to tell us a little

9
00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,960
Speaker 1: more is the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation Northern Territory

10
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:37,840
Speaker 1: Staff Specialist Doctor John Zorbis. Good morning to you, doctor.

11
00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:38,120
Speaker 2: Morning Katie, thanks for having on.

12
00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,000
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning. Now,

13
00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,440
Speaker 1: in your opinion, what are some of the key challenges

14
00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:45,720
Speaker 1: facing Royal Darwin Hospital at the moment.

15
00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,920
Speaker 2: Overwhelmingly, the biggest challenge facing Royal da In Hospital is

16
00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 2: underfunding of healthcare across the territory. Royal Darwin's just the

17
00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,400
Speaker 2: symptom of a much much bigger problem across the wider NT.

18
00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,240
Speaker 1: Talk us through the text of that, I mean, are

19
00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,160
Speaker 1: you talking sort of when you go out to remote communities,

20
00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:07,440
Speaker 1: they're not being the adequate services out there, so you're

21
00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,319
Speaker 1: then having people traveling in. Are you talking aged care

22
00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:11,959
Speaker 1: or is it sort of all of the above.

23
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,160
Speaker 2: It's all of the above. You know, the emergency departments

24
00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,440
Speaker 2: in the NT are the ambulances at the bottom of

25
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,920
Speaker 2: the cliff. And the problem starts well before that. There's

26
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,280
Speaker 2: been a mention of one hundred million dollar hole in

27
00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,039
Speaker 2: the health budget and bad behavior inside health. But I

28
00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,400
Speaker 2: think that distracts from the truth, which is that we're

29
00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:31,760
Speaker 2: just not funded to do our job. To give you

30
00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,120
Speaker 2: an example, you know, the cost of hospital care and

31
00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,000
Speaker 2: Australia is shared between the FEDS and the states and territories.

32
00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:40,440
Speaker 2: In the NT, the FEDS chip in thirty two percent

33
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 2: of the costs of hospital healthcare. Now in some states

34
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,360
Speaker 2: in Australia that's as high as forty two percent. A

35
00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 2: ten percent difference in how much money the Commonwealth chips

36
00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,520
Speaker 2: into your healthcare, We're talking, you know, tens and hundreds

37
00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,520
Speaker 2: of millions of dollars and that's definitely enough to plug

38
00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:55,720
Speaker 2: the gap. So our first question is why is there

39
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,840
Speaker 2: such a big difference between states and territories across Australia. Secondly,

40
00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,000
Speaker 2: the NT government has also become the provider of last results.

41
00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,200
Speaker 2: You know, the FEDS of abandoned primary care in the

42
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,919
Speaker 2: Northern Territory. The NT government paid more than its fair

43
00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,639
Speaker 2: share for retrievals over long, long distances. We're a huge,

44
00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:16,360
Speaker 2: huge area. It pays much more for remote healthcare clinics

45
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,800
Speaker 2: in some states that's not paid for by the local

46
00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:21,720
Speaker 2: government at all. And we also have the lowest number

47
00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:24,440
Speaker 2: of aged care beds in the country, less than half

48
00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 2: compared to other jurisdictions. And when you add all that together,

49
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,520
Speaker 2: what you have is a hospital that just becomes the

50
00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 2: last place that people can go and just cannot cope

51
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:32,680
Speaker 2: with the demand.

52
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,080
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've spoken a lot on the show over in fact,

53
00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,320
Speaker 1: I will say over a number of years about some

54
00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:41,760
Speaker 1: of those different issues we've spoken about at different times.

55
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,440
Speaker 1: You know, they're not being those aged care beds. We've

56
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,280
Speaker 1: spoken to, you know, to doctor Robert Parker on numerous

57
00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:51,840
Speaker 1: occasions about that lack of funding. Doctors orber Are we

58
00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:56,639
Speaker 1: in a situation where any of this is is improving

59
00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:58,560
Speaker 1: in a hurry? I mean, how do we get there

60
00:02:58,720 --> 00:02:59,959
Speaker 1: without that lack of funder.

61
00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,639
Speaker 2: It's impossible to move forward without the funding. I mean

62
00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,280
Speaker 2: that's just a fact. We can become as efficient as

63
00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:09,480
Speaker 2: we want, but unless we're resourced to do our job

64
00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:11,720
Speaker 2: with one of the sickest populations in the country, it's

65
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,880
Speaker 2: going to be very, very hard to move forward. You know,

66
00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:16,800
Speaker 2: there is a lot of restructure and reform in the

67
00:03:16,880 --> 00:03:19,440
Speaker 2: territory and at the moment we've got a reformist and

68
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,799
Speaker 2: doctor Marco in the top job in health. But he's

69
00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,079
Speaker 2: got some hard decisions to make and we want him

70
00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,280
Speaker 2: to be enabled by the Health Minister and by the

71
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:30,600
Speaker 2: Chief Minister to do his job. You know, there is

72
00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,919
Speaker 2: a lot of inefficiency and restructure and ways we could

73
00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:37,160
Speaker 2: be doing things better, but also we need them to

74
00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:39,920
Speaker 2: you know, get our fair share of the pie, get

75
00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,480
Speaker 2: our fair share of tax resourcing to pay for the

76
00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:44,240
Speaker 2: healthcare system that we need to operate.

77
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,800
Speaker 1: You doctors, orbis when you look at you know, the

78
00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,000
Speaker 1: most recent budget that was handed down, both in the

79
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:54,520
Speaker 1: Northern Territory and federal budgets, I mean, have we received

80
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,560
Speaker 1: the kind of funding that we need to really to

81
00:03:58,040 --> 00:03:59,440
Speaker 1: embark on those reforms.

82
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:04,760
Speaker 2: No, I mean we just happened. The federal budget was

83
00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 2: a bit disappointing in that respect, and in particular language

84
00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,360
Speaker 2: around bad behavior and health I think was taken quite

85
00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,480
Speaker 2: poorly by our membership. Doctors and nurses were very unhappy

86
00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,920
Speaker 2: with that kind of language from our Chief Minister because

87
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,200
Speaker 2: it's not our job to fund the system. So my

88
00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,360
Speaker 2: question to the Chief Ministry is where is the bad

89
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,719
Speaker 2: behavior if we're not the ones who are responsible for

90
00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,040
Speaker 2: obtaining this funding, and where is the bad behavior? Because

91
00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:31,120
Speaker 2: I just don't see it, and neither do our members

92
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:32,839
Speaker 2: inside Royal Darwin Hospital.

93
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,000
Speaker 1: So what exactly did she say and what was the

94
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,600
Speaker 1: concern from members? Because I'd be thinking the same if

95
00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,400
Speaker 1: I was somebody working on the frontline in health and thinking, look,

96
00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:46,000
Speaker 1: I'm here dealing with these very very serious issues on

97
00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:47,120
Speaker 1: a day to day basis.

98
00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,400
Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, she's on the record for saying funding

99
00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,880
Speaker 2: health is complex, and that's absolutely true. Health is not

100
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,279
Speaker 2: a simple problem. Otherwise we wouldn't have other problems with

101
00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,920
Speaker 2: ramping and other states wouldn't be facing similar problem. But ultimately,

102
00:05:01,920 --> 00:05:04,719
Speaker 2: we only need two things to deliver quality health care

103
00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,039
Speaker 2: in the NT, and that's to resource us to do

104
00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:09,720
Speaker 2: our job and to let us do our job. Now

105
00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,920
Speaker 2: the resourcing, you know, I think the best step forward there,

106
00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,000
Speaker 2: and I know that most people agree with this, is

107
00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:17,120
Speaker 2: that we should be getting our fair share of that

108
00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,400
Speaker 2: federal funding. That would be a huge step forward in

109
00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,680
Speaker 2: being able to expand services we can provide, especially in

110
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:29,240
Speaker 2: primary care, mental health, aer medical retrieval, but also letting

111
00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:31,400
Speaker 2: us do our job. You know, for every doctor or

112
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:34,840
Speaker 2: nurse filling out another report or another form, that's one

113
00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:38,600
Speaker 2: less doctor or nurse performing patient care. And you know,

114
00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:40,520
Speaker 2: there's concerns from members that a lot of time is

115
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,679
Speaker 2: wasted in activities that aren't directly related to patient care.

116
00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,520
Speaker 2: There's plenty of good ideas, plenty of good doctors, nurses,

117
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,960
Speaker 2: healthcare professionals with lots of good ideas inside that building,

118
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,119
Speaker 2: but it's hard to advance them. And that's a point

119
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,600
Speaker 2: that we continue to press with the Chief Executive and

120
00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:58,760
Speaker 2: with the ministers. So talk me.

121
00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,919
Speaker 1: Through some of the challengers I guess firstly that are

122
00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:04,760
Speaker 1: being experienced within the emergency department.

123
00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:10,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, as I said the health the emergency department

124
00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:12,320
Speaker 2: is you know, the place that people go when there's

125
00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:14,919
Speaker 2: nowhere else to go, and so it ends up being

126
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,640
Speaker 2: a symptom of a bigger problem. A lot of noise

127
00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,760
Speaker 2: is made around code yellows, but the truth is code

128
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,040
Speaker 2: yellow or no code yellow that's just the declaration of

129
00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,520
Speaker 2: the problem. The problem is always there. The problem is

130
00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:30,200
Speaker 2: that we're always full. The problem is that fifteen percent

131
00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:34,160
Speaker 2: of acute beds inside Royal Dalen Hospital have people in

132
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,720
Speaker 2: them who belong in NDIS supported accommodation or aged care

133
00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,760
Speaker 2: or other health care facilities. And when you take away

134
00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,839
Speaker 2: fifteen percent of your beds, I mean, that's a huge number,

135
00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,520
Speaker 2: and that leads to things like double bunking, as was

136
00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:51,520
Speaker 2: discussed in the state Line report, where you've got two

137
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:55,680
Speaker 2: people sharing a bedspace. There was a report from a

138
00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:58,200
Speaker 2: patient and my heart really really went out for her.

139
00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,320
Speaker 2: You know, she really caps just how difficult it is

140
00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:06,200
Speaker 2: trying to deal with very personal, very severe problems in

141
00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,560
Speaker 2: a space that you're sharing with a stranger. You know,

142
00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,720
Speaker 2: we really see that impact inside the ED and that

143
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,040
Speaker 2: leads to staff burnout, staff turnover. We lose doctors, we

144
00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,600
Speaker 2: lose nurses, and it's hard to retain people in the NT.

145
00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,640
Speaker 2: You know, we don't have the luxury of another town,

146
00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,880
Speaker 2: you know, a couple of one hundred klometers away you

147
00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,960
Speaker 2: can move around. We lose people, We lose people, and

148
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,080
Speaker 2: it's very difficult for us to maintain a workforce now.

149
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,400
Speaker 1: Tell me then, I know that they'd also been reports

150
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:38,440
Speaker 1: that there's ambulance ramping being another key issue for those

151
00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,880
Speaker 1: out there listening that don't really know what that means,

152
00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,040
Speaker 1: what does it mean and what impact is it having.

153
00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:47,680
Speaker 2: So, ambulance ramping happens when an ambulance arrives to the

154
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,520
Speaker 2: emergency department and can't offload the patient. So there's no bed,

155
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,000
Speaker 2: no chair, no space for the patient to come out

156
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,880
Speaker 2: of the ambulance, and so they're in the back of

157
00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,080
Speaker 2: the emergency department with the ambulance staff, with our nursing

158
00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,960
Speaker 2: the staff, waiting for a bed to go to. Every

159
00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,800
Speaker 2: ramped ambulance is an ambulance that can't be on the

160
00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,280
Speaker 2: road responding to calls. There was a report in the

161
00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:13,040
Speaker 2: ABC yesterday from Saint John's and other Let Sin John's

162
00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,320
Speaker 2: Ambulance speak to the pressures they're facing. A ramped ambulance

163
00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,760
Speaker 2: is not an uncommon sight in thet now we see

164
00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,679
Speaker 2: that across Australia, but we don't have, again the luxury

165
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:26,320
Speaker 2: of lots of ambulances. Yeah, so an ambulance off the road,

166
00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:27,640
Speaker 2: it can make a big difference in the NT.

167
00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,000
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. I mean then when you have other

168
00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,920
Speaker 1: incidents occurring and people waiting, and we've been told about

169
00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:36,000
Speaker 1: that at different times. We've certainly had people call into

170
00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,600
Speaker 1: the show and say that they've had to wait fairly

171
00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:40,959
Speaker 1: significant amounts of time. And I know that that's not

172
00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,880
Speaker 1: what Saint John would like to have happening. They would

173
00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:46,480
Speaker 1: want to be out there seeing those patients as quickly

174
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,400
Speaker 1: as possible. But then if they're ramped up at the hospital,

175
00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:50,640
Speaker 1: it makes it really difficult.

176
00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,480
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And you know, it's very easy to see the

177
00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:57,520
Speaker 2: problem in the emergency department because that's where it's most visible.

178
00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,800
Speaker 2: But again, this is a much wider, much bigger problem.

179
00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:05,120
Speaker 2: It's timely access to seeing your GP. It's timely access

180
00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,280
Speaker 2: to remote health care clinics and support from the bigger hospitals.

181
00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,800
Speaker 2: It's not having to move people out of country if

182
00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,760
Speaker 2: we don't have to deliver and care to where they

183
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,640
Speaker 2: are rather than bringing them here. It's about the right

184
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:18,920
Speaker 2: number of age care beds and the right amount of

185
00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,400
Speaker 2: funding to do the job that we need to do

186
00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:22,360
Speaker 2: and we want to do.

187
00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:28,760
Speaker 1: Yeah, now, eighteen co yellows last financial year, that seems

188
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:33,480
Speaker 1: like a phenomenal amount of code yellows in one financial year,

189
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,080
Speaker 1: and I know it's felt like that as somebody reporting

190
00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,439
Speaker 1: on them. You know, for years and years I sort

191
00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,160
Speaker 1: of didn't hear about code yellows. And I remember the

192
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:44,520
Speaker 1: first time that one was called, we thought, oh goodness, me,

193
00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,280
Speaker 1: what is this, And you know, it was something that

194
00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,960
Speaker 1: made headlines. Now they seem to happen quite regularly, and

195
00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,079
Speaker 1: a lot of the time we don't even realize.

196
00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we think that's for two reasons. We think

197
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,440
Speaker 2: that you know, one, obviously, there's a steady increase in demand,

198
00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:04,320
Speaker 2: and obviously we're not able to deliver the service that

199
00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:05,880
Speaker 2: we need to and we have to make these types

200
00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,000
Speaker 2: of declarations or the service has to. But also, you know,

201
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,920
Speaker 2: in part, we have an administration and an executive who

202
00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,920
Speaker 2: just can't put out the fires anymore. And really this

203
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,480
Speaker 2: is a declaration to the ministers, the Health minister or

204
00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,400
Speaker 2: Chief minister. We're doing as much as we can and

205
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:28,959
Speaker 2: it's not working. We need support, and that's my concern

206
00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,160
Speaker 2: is that without that support, without that funding, and without

207
00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:36,000
Speaker 2: that support or reform, we're doomed to repeat the same things.

208
00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:38,520
Speaker 1: And if we don't get that support, I mean, if

209
00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,000
Speaker 1: you don't have an increase in funding. If you don't

210
00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:45,000
Speaker 1: see that turnaround to some degree, are we going to

211
00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:49,040
Speaker 1: see things like those elective surgery wait times increase? Are

212
00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,360
Speaker 1: we going to see a situation where there is not

213
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,199
Speaker 1: beds available to people if they need one for a

214
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,400
Speaker 1: longer period of time.

215
00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:01,160
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we can't do something with nothing. I think you know,

216
00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:04,960
Speaker 2: regarding patient safety, there are so many workarounds and so

217
00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:10,079
Speaker 2: many just amazing doctors, nurse healthcare providers who step in

218
00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:13,880
Speaker 2: when the system fails to patients when things are really bad.

219
00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,679
Speaker 2: But again, that increases burnout and those stuff. You know,

220
00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:19,280
Speaker 2: they don't want to come to work, they don't want

221
00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:24,400
Speaker 2: to stay in the MT and so you know the

222
00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:26,400
Speaker 2: problem is in a lot of ways with age care

223
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,600
Speaker 2: needed to be fixed yesterday. So what we're saying now

224
00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,240
Speaker 2: is that now is not the time to squabble about resourcing.

225
00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,120
Speaker 2: Now is the time to recognize we've normalized disaster. This

226
00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,560
Speaker 2: is isis at a tipping point, and we need to

227
00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,520
Speaker 2: move forward. We need I think the time for talking

228
00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,560
Speaker 2: about how we're going to change the system as well passed,

229
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,719
Speaker 2: and we need to we need to firm up those solutions.

230
00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, I've said it before on the show The

231
00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,200
Speaker 1: health issue and the concerns that we've got at the

232
00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,080
Speaker 1: moment when it comes to the health system. We know,

233
00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,880
Speaker 1: we've got so many phenomenal people that work in the

234
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,760
Speaker 1: healthcare system frontline and also all the support staff that

235
00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,120
Speaker 1: work within the health you know, within the health care system.

236
00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:07,920
Speaker 1: But it's a real sleeper issue. I think that a

237
00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,480
Speaker 1: lot of Northern Territorians. Unless you've got a loved one

238
00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:13,120
Speaker 1: that is going through the health system, or unless you've

239
00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,720
Speaker 1: got somebody that's had to attend emergency recently, you just

240
00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,200
Speaker 1: don't realize how much streams staff are under. But you

241
00:12:20,280 --> 00:12:22,880
Speaker 1: also don't realize how tough it can be as a

242
00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,800
Speaker 1: patient if you're having to double bunk and going through

243
00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,440
Speaker 1: a really stressful time in your life and sort of

244
00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,320
Speaker 1: and yeah, experiencing just how busy the hospital is.

245
00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:36,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, you know. I happen to be a patient

246
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,320
Speaker 2: myself about four months ago, and one thing that really

247
00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,560
Speaker 2: struck me was the kindness.

248
00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:42,760
Speaker 1: Of our staff.

249
00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:45,959
Speaker 2: They're just the depths of their kindness and compassion are

250
00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:47,760
Speaker 2: just are brilliant. And I have nothing but praise for

251
00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:49,240
Speaker 2: the people who took care of me while I was

252
00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:53,360
Speaker 2: in hospital. But the level of business, the activity it's

253
00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:55,880
Speaker 2: just when you sit back and just take it all

254
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,120
Speaker 2: in and you know you're not caught up in all

255
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,480
Speaker 2: the activity while it's happening, is just phenomenal. We really

256
00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,200
Speaker 2: are stretched at the scenes well.

257
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,680
Speaker 1: Doctor John Zorbas from the Australian Salaried Medical Offices Federation

258
00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,720
Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory are the staff specialist. I really

259
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,439
Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so very much

260
00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,160
Speaker 1: for having a chat with us. Thanks for having us key,

261
00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:19,840
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you, thanks so much.