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Speaker 1: Now on the front page of the paper today, it

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Speaker 1: is being reported that the scale of the Northern Territori's

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Speaker 1: health crisis has been laid bare in a damning annual

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Speaker 1: report with anty Health recording the first preventable deaths or

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Speaker 1: serious injuries in at least two years. It is reported

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Speaker 1: that there were two sentinel events in the top end

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty to twenty twenty one with the Federal government,

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Speaker 1: which the Federal government describes as being wholly preventable deaths

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Speaker 1: or serious harm events. So if not fatal sentinel events

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Speaker 1: result in ongoing health problems is what is being reported now.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is doctor Robert Parker,

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Speaker 1: the head of the Australian Medical Association here in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory. Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Dr Parker, Morning Cody, Dr Parker.

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Speaker 1: I think I've sort of described there what a sentinel

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Speaker 1: event is, but can you lay it out for us

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Speaker 1: in Layman's terms.

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Speaker 2: Well, certain issues that the healthy've got to report against

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Speaker 2: and send thele events are the most serious in that

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Speaker 2: I mean, there are less serious ones, but send little

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Speaker 2: events are the ones that really cause a lot of

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Speaker 2: attention within the health system as to what happened and

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Speaker 2: what could have been prevented.

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Speaker 1: And in the latest AANUEL report, which was tabled earlier

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Speaker 1: in the week, it says that there were two of

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Speaker 1: these events in the top end and the federal government

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Speaker 1: describes them as being wholly preventable debts or serious harm events.

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Speaker 1: Doctor Parker, I know that you know that you're not

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Speaker 1: able to go into detail of this kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: But what does it mean you know for those listening

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Speaker 1: this morning when they hear that there has been these

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Speaker 1: two sentinel events so preventable deaths within our health system.

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Speaker 2: Well, o Katie, I mean health is often very complex

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Speaker 2: and decisions are made, sometimes things are missed. It's incredibly

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Speaker 2: sad obviously for the person and their families. Health is

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Speaker 2: always attuned to that. And I mean there's frequent reviews

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Speaker 2: on how things can always be done better. They're called

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Speaker 2: RCAs under actually identify if there has been a problem,

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Speaker 2: what might have contributed, how things can always be done better.

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Speaker 2: And doctor Fowl said, need is it does systems under pressure,

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Speaker 2: you know you're more likely to get more issues like this.

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Speaker 2: But again, I want to pay tribute to the collisions

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Speaker 2: and other staff in territory hospitals who basically manage things

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Speaker 2: from day to day so that most of these things

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Speaker 2: don't occur, you know, So they occur occasionly. It's incredibly

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Speaker 2: sad that they do. But the high quality of conditions

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Speaker 2: in territory hospitals indicate that on most occasions they don't,

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Speaker 2: you know. And it's a tribute to the staff working

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Speaker 2: in the hospital.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, and we know that all of those staff work

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Speaker 1: incredibly hard and do all that they can to try

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Speaker 1: to make sure that Territorians receive the best possible care.

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Speaker 1: Does it though, I mean, does it demonstrate that we

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Speaker 1: are under resource within the Health Department.

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Speaker 2: Well, definitely. You know we've been telling the federal Minister

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Speaker 2: Hunt is about to retire that for a couple of years.

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Speaker 2: You know, nothing has really changed from the lever I

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Speaker 2: wrote to have a couple of years ago pointing out

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Speaker 2: the territory hospitals two to three times as business of

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Speaker 2: the hospitals in Australia. We've had no real increase in

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Speaker 2: funding to account for that.

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Speaker 1: What do we do here, doctor Parker? Because I know,

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Speaker 1: even for myself personally, I'm I'm very lucky and have

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Speaker 1: not had to present to the hospital for quite some time.

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Speaker 1: I have definitely, you know, had friends and family present

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Speaker 1: at the hospital and say that they've received fantastic treatment

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Speaker 1: from all of the healthcare professionals there. But but you know,

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Speaker 1: in some instances had great difficulty being able to see

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Speaker 1: a specialist required to you know, to look over scans

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Speaker 1: after being diagnosed with a blood clot and very other issues. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, what needs to happen at the moment because

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Speaker 1: you and I have spoken on so many occasions. I

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Speaker 1: know that we've spoken to the Health Minister on so

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Speaker 1: many occasions, and we understand that our hospitals are busier

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Speaker 1: than anywhere else in Australia, But how do we really

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Speaker 1: advocate for that additional funding or to make sure that

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Speaker 1: we do get extra staff.

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Speaker 2: Well, this constantly reminding anti cabinet because in the end

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Speaker 2: it's cabinets who make the decision about how the cake

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Speaker 2: is cut with the budget, about the need for health dollars,

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Speaker 2: and constantly putting pressure onto the federal government in respect

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Speaker 2: to hospital funding. And I think I think it's been

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Speaker 2: recently rob Prime Minister Morrison has recently reflected that public

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Speaker 2: hospitals don't need more money in Australia. It wasn't just

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Speaker 2: the territory who's had problems. Apparently other It's recognized now

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Speaker 2: that there's major problems with public hospital systems throughout Australia

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Speaker 2: and it needs a significant injection of funds to make

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Speaker 2: our hospitals work.

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Speaker 1: So obviously, like you said, they're a closer look at

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Speaker 1: how that money is going into or how the budget

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Speaker 1: is being sort of you know, allocated and ensuring that

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Speaker 1: it is going into into those specific areas within the

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Speaker 1: health department, i e. The hospitals. How are our hospitals

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Speaker 1: going at the moment.

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Speaker 2: Well, again, there are always very high acuity level four

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Speaker 2: occasionally code yellow. You know, they're under pressure and it's

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Speaker 2: we made that point so that they're still under significant pressure.

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Speaker 2: But it is a tribute to again the doctors, nurses, ots,

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Speaker 2: physio social workers, cleaners, cooks, but the whole thing works,

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Speaker 2: you know, for ninety five ninety sercent of the time.

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Speaker 1: This document also reported that top end health failed against

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Speaker 1: some key benchmarks, including emergency clearance rates, elective surgery waight time.

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Speaker 1: Apparently on the sixty two percent of emergency department admissions

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Speaker 1: departed within four hours, that fails the nt HEALTHS target

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Speaker 1: of seventy eight percent. But again I guess that really

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Speaker 1: does demonstrate that we know that our emergency ward is

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Speaker 1: incredibly stretched.

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Speaker 2: That's right. It just demonstrates the pressure on the ED

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Speaker 2: Department being able to operate within these national benchmars just

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Speaker 2: by the number of people within the number of patients

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Speaker 2: within the ED, which is all which has been well

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Speaker 2: publicized recently. And of course the Level four and CO

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Speaker 2: yellow restrictions obviously do affect surgical waiting. Liss and I'll

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Speaker 2: bring deatas have to close so the beds are available

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Speaker 2: for the people in the ED, So you know that

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Speaker 2: will affect waiting times, surgical waiting lies.

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Speaker 1: And you've spoken I know with those you know, with

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Speaker 1: the elective surgeries for example, or requiring to have surgery.

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Speaker 1: Some it says here on the sixty eight percent of

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Speaker 1: patients who were required to have surgery within thirty days

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Speaker 1: were admitted on time. You and I have spoken before

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Speaker 1: about some of those delays with surgery. Has there been

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Speaker 1: much movement in terms of the additional nursing stuff, you know,

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Speaker 1: getting in there and being able to you know, to

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Speaker 1: be there in theater and in those different areas where they're.

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Speaker 2: Required Okatie, I'm not quite sure about nursing recruitment, to

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Speaker 2: be frank, I know that I'm working very hard to

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Speaker 2: get the nurses required to make the theaters work another

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Speaker 2: the hospital as well, but I can't give a specific

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Speaker 2: comment on that. No.

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Speaker 1: From your perspective, I mean, as the head of the AMA,

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Speaker 1: the Australian Medical Association, how how are the likes of

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Speaker 1: our doctors feeling working in what is incredibly an incredibly

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Speaker 1: busy system, Okatie.

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Speaker 2: I'm regularly around the wards in the hospital with my

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Speaker 2: normal day job as the psychiatrist, and I'm just constantly

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Speaker 2: inspired by the young people I'm working with, by the consultants,

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Speaker 2: by the registrars and residents who are just doing a

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Speaker 2: great job, you know, looking after pays. So you know,

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Speaker 2: even with the pressures, they're optimistic, they're they're they're interested

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Speaker 2: in what they're doing and I continue to be inspired

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Speaker 2: by their attitude and the work that they're doing well.

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Speaker 1: Doctor Robert Parker, the head of the Australian Medical Association

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Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory, always appreciate your time. Thanks

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Speaker 1: for having a chat with us today.

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Speaker 2: Thanks very much, Cobie.

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Speaker 1: Thank you