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Speaker 1: We've been discussing this morning the situation out at Howard

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Speaker 1: Springs and the staffing of the facility out there at

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Speaker 1: Howard Springs, the National Center or the Center for National Resilience.

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Speaker 1: The aim had been to recruit four hundred staff. Now

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Speaker 1: the Health Minister Natasha Fhiles had confirmed on the show

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Speaker 1: earlier in the week that that number was at seventy.

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Speaker 1: I am assuming that it is going to be going up,

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Speaker 1: but the recruitment of that facility is certainly something that

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Speaker 1: should be and is no doubt high on the agenda

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Speaker 1: for the government. Now joining us on the line to

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Speaker 1: talk a little bit more about that and plenty of

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Speaker 1: other things is the Australian Nursing and Midwiffree Federation NT

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Speaker 1: Branch Secretary Cath Hatcha.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Cath, good mate, Sorry, good morning.

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Speaker 1: Great to have you on the show with us this morning. Cath.

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Speaker 1: As I mentioned, we've been talking a bit about the

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Speaker 1: staffing out at Howard Springs and that recruitment of well

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Speaker 1: several hundred staff. The Health Minister confirmed earlier in the

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Speaker 1: week it was currently sitting at a round seventy. How

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Speaker 1: critical is it that we make sure that we get

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Speaker 1: the number of staff required out there.

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Speaker 2: Would be very detrimental because the anti government are looking

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Speaker 2: at increasing the numbers from eight hundred and fifty international

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Speaker 2: arrivals from to two thousand international arrivals per fortnite. So

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Speaker 2: you need that staff number to cater not just for

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Speaker 2: nursing staff, but for all that entails to look after

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Speaker 2: those people in quarantine.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you spot on, and as you've pointed out there,

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Speaker 1: it's not just nursing staff, but it is stff A

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Speaker 1: staff across a number of different areas CAAVO just taking

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Speaker 1: a look more closely at the nursing staff. I mean,

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Speaker 1: when you're looking at numbers like two thousand, how many

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Speaker 1: nursing staff would you need out there? Sort of as

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Speaker 1: a matter of urgency.

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Speaker 2: To cater for those numbers, which the Health Minister advised

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Speaker 2: me about six weeks ago that when they reached the

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Speaker 2: two thousand numbers to be quarantined, they'd need about one

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Speaker 2: hundred nursing staff out of that four hundred and fifty

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Speaker 2: staff that they are advertising for. I'm not sure if

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Speaker 2: they're going to get those numbers. I hope so. But

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Speaker 2: all areas in Australia are having major issues with recruiting

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Speaker 2: and retaining staff because all the staff that normally would

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Speaker 2: sit in hospitals and clinics are now being diversified into

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Speaker 2: other areas like vaccine research, calling, phone calls, testing, and

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Speaker 2: vaccine giving. So that's making the numbers on the ground

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Speaker 2: giving to our community people less.

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Speaker 1: Kas. Do we need to be offering some kind of

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Speaker 1: incentive or something to really tried to get those nursing

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Speaker 1: staff to come to the territory.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I was asked this question last night and I said, yes,

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Speaker 2: I think there should be an incentive. But thinking about

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Speaker 2: that since last night, there's probably quite an incentive just

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Speaker 2: within working within the quarantine system, which is unique. We

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Speaker 2: haven't had as an opportunity for a nurse to work

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Speaker 2: in those types of facilities before, so to apply for

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Speaker 2: a position and work in the quarantine facility would be

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Speaker 2: a very good for your CV as a nurse. So

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Speaker 2: they may not need to have that incentive, but I

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Speaker 2: think other areas around the Northern Territory to retain, recruit

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Speaker 2: and retain staff, I think we do need some incentive,

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Speaker 2: whether it be a money upfront money incentive or for

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Speaker 2: them to have their Sorry, can't remove all money, you know,

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Speaker 2: everything paid for for their moving from interstate or overseas.

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Speaker 2: I think they need to have some help there.

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Speaker 1: And Cass do you reckon when it comes to finding accommodation?

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Speaker 1: Is that going to be something that could potentially be

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Speaker 1: a difficult thing or a difficulty added to trying to

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Speaker 1: lure nurses to the territory.

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Speaker 2: Yes, we do have accommodation on both campuses. They're athere

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Speaker 2: Springs and in Darwin. Yeah, that is not a huge

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Speaker 2: numbers of accommodation, but you've probably know yourself that houses

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Speaker 2: are getting snapped up quickly and units for rent and

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Speaker 2: for buying within Darwin particularly, so yes, it could potentially

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Speaker 2: be an accommodation issue.

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Speaker 1: Yes, kas I know that at the moment as well.

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Speaker 1: In addition to you know to obviously trying to staff

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Speaker 1: the Howard Springs facility, there's always the issue of staffing

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Speaker 1: at our various hospitals around the territory as well, and

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Speaker 1: some nurses the last time you and I caught up

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Speaker 1: were doing double shifts and having to sort of work

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Speaker 1: extra hours in order to fill some of those spots.

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Speaker 1: How are things going at the moment, More broadly, in a.

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Speaker 2: Couple of areas within Royal Darwin Hospital that has got better, Yeah,

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Speaker 2: but there are still a couple of areas that are

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Speaker 2: still doing extra shifts over time shifts, double shifts and

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Speaker 2: therefore getting fatigued and tired and also taking sick leaves

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Speaker 2: as a result of all that extra stress. But also

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Speaker 2: the second wave of COVID vaccines have been happening recently

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Speaker 2: and they've also had some fluy type symptoms, nothing bad,

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Speaker 2: but some symptoms from having that second vaccine which has

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Speaker 2: made them have some sick leaves as well, which has

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Speaker 2: put more strain back in some of the areas within

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Speaker 2: the Ryal Darwin Hospital.

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Speaker 1: And do you reckon that we're going to see is

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Speaker 1: there going to be much of a strain or is

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Speaker 1: there going to be much of an impact? Do you

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Speaker 1: think we'll have many of our nurses that are currently

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Speaker 1: working at our major hospitals and other facilities go across

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Speaker 1: to work at Howard Springs and will that have much

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Speaker 1: of an impact?

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Speaker 2: The Health Minister assured me that they would not target

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Speaker 2: those already working clinically within the territory to move across

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Speaker 2: to the Howard Springs facility. But that's you know, if

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Speaker 2: you were a nurse already currently working in the territory

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Speaker 2: want to take up that role. There's no reason why

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Speaker 2: people can't apply for those positions, but they are trying

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Speaker 2: to target from interstate and overseas to fulfill those positions.

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Speaker 1: And kas we know that there is a merger at

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Speaker 1: the moment, as I understand at top end health and

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Speaker 1: the other areas of health merging. Is that I mean,

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Speaker 1: is that having much of an impact when it comes

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Speaker 1: to the conditions and terms of contracts for our nurses.

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Speaker 2: At the moment the Better Together program, which is what

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Speaker 2: they're calling the Department of Helter calling it, they're still

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Speaker 2: in the early stages of consulting with key stakeholders, so

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Speaker 2: a lot of those that are working on the ground

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Speaker 2: in nursing and midw free wouldn't have any impact or

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Speaker 2: much knowledge of what's going on, but they will hopefully

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Speaker 2: around the July first when it does come into reality.

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Speaker 2: I don't think there's going to be a huge change

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Speaker 2: within the health system on the ground running, but there

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Speaker 2: will be some managerial change. And I know that the

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Speaker 2: Opposition leader, Bill Yan was saying over this past few

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Speaker 2: days that he thought that there would be some issues

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Speaker 2: from Tenant Creek and other springs areas and getting policy

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Speaker 2: change or getting recruitment retention or getting any decisions made

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Speaker 2: within those areas of Central Australia needing to wait for

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Speaker 2: a decision through the top end health service alls from

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Speaker 2: Dawin specifically. I don't think that there will be an

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Speaker 2: issue because they're dividing up the territory into five different

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Speaker 2: areas and they all have their key areas on all

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Speaker 2: levels and making decisions within those areas and then feeding

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Speaker 2: back to the Chief Executive Officer or the chief Chief

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Speaker 2: Operating officer for the territory.

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Speaker 1: Okay, well that's good to hear. Kath Hatcher, Australian Nursing

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Speaker 1: and mid We're free NT Branch Secretary. Always good to catch.

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Speaker 2: Up with you.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time this morning.

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Speaker 2: You're very welcome, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Thank you