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Speaker 1: We know that a code yellow has been called for

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Speaker 1: Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals due to a spike in demand.

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Speaker 1: The department says that it allows for practices to be

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Speaker 1: enacted to ease pressure on the system after a steady

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Speaker 1: rise in patient admissions. There are also plans in place

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Speaker 1: to relocate resources and help with admission and discharge processes.

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Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us a

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Speaker 1: little bit more about how things are going and shed

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Speaker 1: some light on how nursing staff are doing it at this

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Speaker 1: point in time. The Australian Nursing and Midwi Free Federation

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Speaker 1: NT Secretary Kath Hatcha, Good morning to you, Cath.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie kav.

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Speaker 1: How are our nurses doing at the moment with the

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Speaker 1: hospital currently under pressure to the point of calling that

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Speaker 1: code yellow.

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Speaker 2: They quite often tell me that they like it when

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Speaker 2: a code yellow happens because staff that are normally non

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Speaker 2: clinical come out of their doing whatever they normally do

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Speaker 2: in their hands on clinically helping in that space. It's

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Speaker 2: when they're really pushed to maximum and their code yellow

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Speaker 2: hasn't been called yet that they're really struggle because those

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Speaker 2: extra staff are still doing their non clinical work which

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Speaker 2: is all very important work, educating, etc. So they're quite

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Speaker 2: glad when the code yellow is called, but it is

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Speaker 2: from as you say, increase the patients. But also there's

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Speaker 2: a real deficit still with staffing numbers to nursing and

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Speaker 2: midwifree at Waldaral and Palmerston Hospitals.

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Speaker 1: So kath is that still as a result of its

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Speaker 1: sort of trying to recover post COVID. Why are we

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Speaker 1: still struggling with those numbers.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a multiple factor. After COVID and everything

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Speaker 2: opened up a lot when into state or back over overseas,

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Speaker 2: because they hadn't been able to do that, and then

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Speaker 2: they might not have come back to the territory. They

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Speaker 2: might have gone to another state. This is not We're

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Speaker 2: not just happening in the territory unfortunately, it's pretty much

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Speaker 2: Australia wide, which is very unfortunate still and there's nurses

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Speaker 2: that have left the profession and needing a good break

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Speaker 2: or not going to come back to nursing at all.

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Speaker 2: But also the Enterprise Agreement which has been dragging on

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Speaker 2: for much longer, more than six months than usual, and

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Speaker 2: the guaranteed of what type of enterprise agreement they're going

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Speaker 2: to get now. When we started that agreement back twelve

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Speaker 2: more than twelve months ago, we had a wage freeze

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Speaker 2: that was thankfully lifted in October last year, and we've

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Speaker 2: gradually been able to get a good base rate of

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Speaker 2: three percent, and we've been able to get incentive allowances

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Speaker 2: right across all levels of nursing and not just selected areas,

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Speaker 2: so that's been good. The vote's going out very shortly

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Speaker 2: for that, but for some yeah, which is great. So

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Speaker 2: we did a survey week before last and the survey

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Speaker 2: was very positive of eighty five percent that they liked

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Speaker 2: the agreement that the commissioner was putting forth. So we've

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Speaker 2: just finished the drafting of the agreement and the commissioners

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Speaker 2: just put that out to everyone to have a look at.

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Speaker 2: So then the vote will go out after that and

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Speaker 2: then it needs to go to the fair work. So

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Speaker 2: we're not finished yet. No, that process takes time and

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Speaker 2: it's probably not quick enough to some nurses where they think,

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Speaker 2: you know, going to Queensland per se and getting ten

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars at sign on contract another ten thousand bonus

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Speaker 2: in twelve months time, so that's.

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Speaker 1: It makes a difference makes a big difference lately, Kath,

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Speaker 1: how many nurses are we short at the moment? You know,

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Speaker 1: when you look at both Royal Darwin and the Palmerston

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Speaker 1: Regional Hospital where we've got the code yellows how many

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Speaker 1: nurses are we short?

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Speaker 2: I got this statist six a couple of weeks ago

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Speaker 2: and it's about thirty six full time equivalent staff.

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Speaker 1: It is a lot then when you you know, when

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Speaker 1: you consider that everybody's juggling additional work to make sure

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Speaker 1: that they're doing the work of those thirty six full

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Speaker 1: time staff that are required.

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Speaker 2: That's right.

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Speaker 1: It makes it tough. I know you said that the

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Speaker 1: code yellow you hear that it does indeed help in

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Speaker 1: a lot of ways because it means that it's all

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Speaker 1: hands on deck. How long has it been since our

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Speaker 1: last code yellow? Don't I didn't even recall that one

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Speaker 1: being lifted well?

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Speaker 2: Did lift, was well and truly lifted by about maybe

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Speaker 2: the fifth or sixth of this month, So it hasn't

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Speaker 2: been that long between that one that was about a

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Speaker 2: fortnight to now being reactivated again yesterday. And whether COVID's

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Speaker 2: playing I haven't heard if there is any increase in

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Speaker 2: COVID in the hospital. But I do know that down

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Speaker 2: in the Southern state there's a big burst of COVID

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Speaker 2: admissions down in southern areas, and as you know, we

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Speaker 2: have a lot of Southerners coming up at this time

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Speaker 2: of the year. So whether that impacted, I'm not sure.

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Speaker 2: I haven't heard that aspect of it.

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Speaker 1: CAS is the calling of a code yellow. I mean,

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Speaker 1: as you'd said, you know, it lifted earlier this month,

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Speaker 1: the previous code yellow. We've got the other one in

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Speaker 1: place now. Is it something that happens at hospitals around

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Speaker 1: the nation quite often, because it feels as though it's

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Speaker 1: happened for us quite a lot in the last couple

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Speaker 1: of years.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it has. And you know, some hospitals don't call

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Speaker 2: it a code yellow, but they still have, you know,

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Speaker 2: actions in place to manage the ups and downs of

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Speaker 2: the patient numbers or the lack of staff and etc.

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Speaker 2: I know Alice Springs don't call code yellows, but they

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Speaker 2: feel that roll downe On Hospital over the last couple

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Speaker 2: of years have had their fair few and they're wondering,

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Speaker 2: you know, why they are not calling a code yellow.

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Speaker 2: But they do have the same principles and plans in

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Speaker 2: place when they're over capacity, understaffed, etc. As well, the

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Speaker 2: same non clinical nurses come out of their offices and

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Speaker 2: on the clinical floor, which I think for Alice Springs

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Speaker 2: has been more on the floor clinical than non clinical

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Speaker 2: over the past eighteen months.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, they've had a tough time have an I

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Speaker 1: and LS over the last it have Yeah, Kas, we

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Speaker 1: are going to have to get ready to wrap up.

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Speaker 1: But I do want to ask you. We are hearing

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Speaker 1: that a lot of staff are feeling as though there's

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Speaker 1: plenty of pressure as well, with quite a few people

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Speaker 1: off sick. What a nurse is telling.

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Speaker 2: You, Yeah, definitely sick leave, you know, and that might

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Speaker 2: be mental health with fatigue, physical fatigue, but it also

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Speaker 2: might be that you know, COVID's increased as well, and

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Speaker 2: they can't go to work like you know, myself being

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Speaker 2: non clinical, if I had COVID, I could go to

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Speaker 2: work and they can't. They need to have at least

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Speaker 2: the seven days away from work, so that all impacts

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Speaker 2: when they're already low staff, and then you've got sick

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Speaker 2: leave on top of that, and you're needing to give

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Speaker 2: some annual leave as well, so recreation leave, and if

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Speaker 2: you don't give the staff some recreation leave because they

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Speaker 2: probably haven't had much over the last few years. You know,

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Speaker 2: they will probably get sick or take sick leave as

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Speaker 2: a result of fatigued because they're not getting that downtime required.

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Speaker 2: So they are doing too many hours of double shits

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Speaker 2: and overtimes and that's not helping the amount of sick leave, etc.

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Speaker 1: So just the role on effect, It really sounds that way, Kath.

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Speaker 1: We always appreciate your time. I know that you're incredibly

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Speaker 1: busy as well. Thank you so very much for having

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Speaker 1: a chat with us this morning and shedding a bit

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Speaker 1: of light on that code yellow.

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Speaker 2: You're very welcome, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Thanks Kath,