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Speaker 1: And as you would have heard on the show, we've

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Speaker 1: been contacted by numerous people about assaults on emergency staff

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Speaker 1: at Royal Dawen Hospital. Even on the weekend, I had

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Speaker 1: a long time territory in getting contact to say it

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Speaker 1: had been a really difficult time for staff in the

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Speaker 1: emergency department. Now, we last week revealed on the show

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Speaker 1: that a number of nurses, security guard and doctor had

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Speaker 1: been assaulted in recent weeks. NT Health has now confirmed

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Speaker 1: that new safety measures were being implemented on top of

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Speaker 1: those already in place, such as that twenty four to

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Speaker 1: seven patrolling on the campus by security officers. Now we

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Speaker 1: also know that work is underway to implement additional safety

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Speaker 1: measures to help improve safety of all staff, including that

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Speaker 1: increased security presence and the removal of all objects that

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Speaker 1: are not fixed down or can be lifted easily by

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Speaker 1: one person from the waiting area. So that is what

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Speaker 1: we learned last week on the show. We also spoke

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Speaker 1: to the Health Minister, Selena Rubo about it. Now joining

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Speaker 1: me on the show to really speak to us from

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Speaker 1: a nurse perspective is Cas Hatcher, who is indeed the

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Speaker 1: Secretary of the Northern Territory Nursing and Midwiffree Federation. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to your cas.

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Speaker 2: Oh, good morning, Katie.

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Speaker 3: Thanks so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 1: Cat.

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Speaker 3: How are things going in e D at the moment?

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Speaker 2: They're very under the pump. They're so short staff. It's

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Speaker 2: almost nerve racking, and the staff really had enough with

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Speaker 2: the abuse verbally and the occasional or not the occasional,

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Speaker 2: it's becoming often frequently on a daily basis. Physical violence. Yes,

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Speaker 2: the other securities that Department of Health have put in

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Speaker 2: place hopefully will help and removing all flying objects. However,

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Speaker 2: we can't stop people coming into the emergency staff sorry,

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Speaker 2: emergency department that are under the influence of the alcohol

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Speaker 2: or other drugs, and this is generally what causes the

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Speaker 2: outrage and the verbal and physical abuse.

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's shocking stuff like assaults on any frontline workers,

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Speaker 1: assaults on anyone. It's just not good enough. But then

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Speaker 1: when you look at an emergency department where it's high pressure,

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Speaker 1: they are working so incredibly hard, they're under the pump,

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Speaker 1: and then to have somebody come in and assault a nurse,

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Speaker 1: assault of security guard, assault doctors, it's surrendous.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I got some statistics the other day for

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Speaker 2: the and the financial year twenty twenty three at thirtieth

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Speaker 2: of June, and that financial year gave me statistics for

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Speaker 2: roldale In Hospital six hundred and seventy recorded incidents of

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Speaker 2: physical assaults on staff for that financial year, more than

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Speaker 2: one a day on not just nurses, but you know,

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Speaker 2: security guards, doctors and other staff, et cetera. And also

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Speaker 2: assaults on other patients and family members or visitors within

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Speaker 2: Royal Dalen Hospital. On top of that is three hundred

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Speaker 2: and forty eight recorded incidences.

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Speaker 3: That is terrible, like that is shocking stuff.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely awful. It is awful, and yes it has got worse.

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Speaker 2: And I think the number one incident would be alcohol

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Speaker 2: and other drugs, So you can't always blame those on

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Speaker 2: those types. With the alcohol and other drugs. There are

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Speaker 2: you know, people that get angered because they're waiting. Time

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Speaker 2: in the waiting room is you know long, and they

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Speaker 2: have to triage patients coming into the ED and that's

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Speaker 2: exactly what they need to do. They need to prioritize

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Speaker 2: see those the sickest first.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, Kats, have you been

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Speaker 1: told of incidents in recent weeks that have been quite

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Speaker 1: disturbing to you.

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Speaker 2: Yes I have. I don't know any details at all,

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Speaker 2: but I do know that one staff member was quite

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Speaker 2: critical and I'm not sure how they're going. But that's

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Speaker 2: very very concerning.

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Speaker 1: Kas taking that into account. I mean, is the department

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Speaker 1: and the government doing enough here.

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Speaker 2: I think they can do it as enough as they can.

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Speaker 2: They've always had a zero tolerance and I've always said that,

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Speaker 2: you know, verbal and physicure abuses is no and no

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Speaker 2: one should come in to the domain of the Department

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Speaker 2: of Health and have that attitude and cause physical or

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Speaker 2: verbal harm to anyone at all. You can't stop someone

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Speaker 2: who's drunk or under the influence of drugs. But I

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Speaker 2: was speaking to someone from MT Work yesterday and they

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Speaker 2: were highly concerned of the number of reports that they

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Speaker 2: have had in recent months from the Department of Health

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Speaker 2: for them to say that they must be more accelerated

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Speaker 2: than usual. So the person from MT Works, they said

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Speaker 2: that they were going to get together with the Department

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Speaker 2: of Health and try and work together and see if

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Speaker 2: they can offer any solutions.

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Speaker 1: Something needs to be done. We cannot have a situation

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Speaker 1: where any of our staff, whether it's at the emergency

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Speaker 1: department in Royal Dale and hospital or any other location

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Speaker 1: across the Northern Territory are having to deal with this.

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Speaker 1: And I don't accept that you know that well people

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Speaker 1: are intoxicated, or that they're under the influence of drugs,

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Speaker 1: or that you know it happens to all frontline workers

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Speaker 1: at different times. There's dangerous situations. It's not okay to

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Speaker 1: go to work and have to deal with that garbage.

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Speaker 2: No, you should be able to go to work and

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Speaker 2: feel safe and go home from work in the same

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Speaker 2: mental and physical health that you went to work in.

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Speaker 2: That you might be tired and physical tiredness from you know,

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Speaker 2: running around doing your work for the shift, but not

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Speaker 2: from someone else's doing.

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Speaker 3: Yes, spot on cas.

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Speaker 1: You know, the question that does always get asked when

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Speaker 1: we have these discussions is does there need to be

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Speaker 1: sort of mandatory sentencing for those who do assault you know,

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Speaker 1: frontline workers.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think there needs to be anyone that causes

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Speaker 2: harm to someone else, and particularly you know, whether it's

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Speaker 2: on the street or whether it's in the department of

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Speaker 2: health facility like a hospital, they need to be accountable

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Speaker 2: for their actions.

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Speaker 3: CAV.

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Speaker 1: I always appreciate your time. I know that you are

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Speaker 1: incredibly busy. We appreciate your time and we'll talk to

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Speaker 1: you again very soon. Thank you for having a chat

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Speaker 1: this morning.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me Katie, thank

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Speaker 3: You, thanks so much.