1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,800
Speaker 1: Now we know that a review into Saint John Ambulance

2
00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:07,160
Speaker 1: has reportedly flagged serious concerns about clinical governance within the

3
00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,360
Speaker 1: private service. Well, that's according to a report by the ABC,

4
00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,600
Speaker 1: who obtained a copy of this confidential report, which found

5
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,279
Speaker 1: some processes may have led to patient debts and significant

6
00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:22,480
Speaker 1: risk to staff. The report also recommended some life saving

7
00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:27,520
Speaker 1: procedures be urgently suspended until more senior directors are appointed

8
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,280
Speaker 1: and regular auditing is in place. Now joining me in

9
00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,479
Speaker 1: the studio is Saint John's Director of Ambulance Services, Andrew Thomas.

10
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,239
Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Andrew, morning, Katie. Good to have

11
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,080
Speaker 1: you in the studio. Now, when was the report commissions?

12
00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:48,400
Speaker 2: So, the Northern Territory Health spoke to us in February

13
00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,200
Speaker 2: of this year and advised that they wanted to look

14
00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:55,440
Speaker 2: at doing a report to review our safety and our

15
00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 2: governance structures and systems, which we like, like any organization,

16
00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,800
Speaker 2: wells those opportunities to look at services that we provide

17
00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,040
Speaker 2: and the structures and systems that we have behind them,

18
00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 2: particularly when we're talking around things like patient safety. So

19
00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:13,440
Speaker 2: absolutely we welcome the opportunity for someone to come in

20
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,800
Speaker 2: and review what we've done. We had in late or

21
00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 2: in through twenty twenty three been undertaking a review process

22
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,600
Speaker 2: and looking at what we did and how we did

23
00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000
Speaker 2: our clinical governance and our orditing and reviewing. And that

24
00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,840
Speaker 2: was on the back of we've seen significant growth in

25
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,880
Speaker 2: our workload and caseload over the last four years. In fact,

26
00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,720
Speaker 2: I was looking at the figures that we've got at

27
00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,640
Speaker 2: the moment that's going into the report on Government Services

28
00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:44,399
Speaker 2: that's showing that, you know, we've sent a twenty percent

29
00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 2: increase in workload and patients that we've seen over the

30
00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:52,160
Speaker 2: past four years. So that's a lot of extra workload,

31
00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:55,280
Speaker 2: particularly for our governance team that does the orditing and

32
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 2: reviewing of what we do and flows into then following

33
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,280
Speaker 2: up on those you know, patient concerns, any any complaints

34
00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,680
Speaker 2: or anything that come out of feedback. So we wanted

35
00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:08,760
Speaker 2: to look at how we can improve that system and

36
00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,640
Speaker 2: so that involved us actually you know, building up a

37
00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,040
Speaker 2: dedicated patient safety and quality team and we employed a

38
00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:20,919
Speaker 2: dedicated manager into that role. So we've been on a

39
00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,320
Speaker 2: sort of a process of improvement and unfortunately, I suppose

40
00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,040
Speaker 2: that's been having to be done within the constraints of

41
00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,040
Speaker 2: the funding bucket that we have.

42
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:30,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.

43
00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:35,120
Speaker 2: You know, by the time we received the report, we

44
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 2: were able to see that, you know, in that period

45
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,400
Speaker 2: of time that lapsed between February when it was commissioned

46
00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,600
Speaker 2: and then March when the when doctor Ellis came and

47
00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:48,360
Speaker 2: undertook the report. Yeah, or his review over here, that

48
00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:50,840
Speaker 2: a lot of this there's still lots of work to do.

49
00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:51,799
Speaker 2: We know that well.

50
00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,080
Speaker 1: And look, I guess the thing is fundamentally, for a

51
00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,359
Speaker 1: lot of people listening this morning, what they will want

52
00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,840
Speaker 1: to know is that any service that they received from

53
00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:00,760
Speaker 1: Saint John that it is up to the standard that

54
00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:03,320
Speaker 1: is expected and that they that they want it to be.

55
00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,760
Speaker 1: I know that that, you know, fundamentally, like you've touched on,

56
00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,760
Speaker 1: the report was commissioned by NT Health. Now my understanding

57
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,360
Speaker 1: is that it was after the Darwin and Allie Springs

58
00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:17,000
Speaker 1: emergency departments had raised concerns about what you know, they'd

59
00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:21,400
Speaker 1: called in quotation marks substandard care bi ambulance staff but

60
00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,160
Speaker 1: Andrew what like what is considered substandard care?

61
00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so look, you know, part of our auditing process,

62
00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,799
Speaker 2: and you know, I firstly want to obviously acknowledge that

63
00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:33,560
Speaker 2: you know, this report coming out in the way it's

64
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:35,920
Speaker 2: been leaked and a lot of the you know, the

65
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,400
Speaker 2: headline sort of topics that have come out of this.

66
00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,480
Speaker 2: You know, I can imagine that obviously it does raise

67
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,600
Speaker 2: some concerns from the community, and I first we want

68
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:50,120
Speaker 2: to reassure the community that you know, our paramedics and

69
00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 2: our staff that we have, you know, highly qualified professionals.

70
00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,280
Speaker 2: They've gone through industry training and standard paramedics came through

71
00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,520
Speaker 2: a university degree. They do a twelve month minimum twelve

72
00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:07,720
Speaker 2: month internship to become qualified to use our guidelines that

73
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:13,200
Speaker 2: are approved and endorsed. So, you know, while you know,

74
00:04:13,240 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 2: there were some concerns raised from the ED departments in

75
00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,000
Speaker 2: Alice Springs and Darwin around some of the care that

76
00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:24,000
Speaker 2: they had seen come through, it was a small number

77
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:24,560
Speaker 2: of cases.

78
00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,400
Speaker 1: Were there any exit like were there examples given to

79
00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,120
Speaker 1: you guys as to what they had deemed to be

80
00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,240
Speaker 1: care that wasn't up to the standard that they'd expected,

81
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:35,880
Speaker 1: or like we're kind of given the opportunity to see that.

82
00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:41,839
Speaker 2: Yes, So as part of the review, doctor Ellis requested

83
00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:45,160
Speaker 2: for us a number of cases that you know, he

84
00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,039
Speaker 2: obviously had received from from the Department Health or the

85
00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,840
Speaker 2: ED departments, of which nearly all of them we had

86
00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:57,600
Speaker 2: already internally reviewed, and most of them we've undertaken, you know,

87
00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,919
Speaker 2: you know, changes to our structures and systems care that

88
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:01,680
Speaker 2: not up to the standard. It might be that it's

89
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,279
Speaker 2: a variantation outside of what our current guideline is, or

90
00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,200
Speaker 2: you know, maybe a dosage issue in terms of some

91
00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,040
Speaker 2: of the medication that's been given that you know, the

92
00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,440
Speaker 2: paramedic at the times made a choice and in hindsight

93
00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:18,440
Speaker 2: that you know, maybe that dose might have been a

94
00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:20,800
Speaker 2: little high or underdosed, or it might or might not

95
00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,640
Speaker 2: have been the correct choice, knowing later on. And so

96
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,120
Speaker 2: that's a learning opportunity. And we know that within healthcare

97
00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:32,520
Speaker 2: when we're talking around high acuity, you know, urgent responses

98
00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,200
Speaker 2: to patients someone else, that we want to make sure

99
00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,200
Speaker 2: that you know, those paramedics are making, you know, those

100
00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,839
Speaker 2: decisions at the time in high pressure situations, no different

101
00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:44,520
Speaker 2: to health services and other well and the.

102
00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:48,200
Speaker 1: Thing is they are under some bloody stressful situations. I mean,

103
00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:49,880
Speaker 1: earlier in the week you and I had spoken about

104
00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,240
Speaker 1: the fact that somebody was literally on the roof of

105
00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,440
Speaker 1: one of your ambulance vehicles while you're trying to treat someone.

106
00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,600
Speaker 1: You know, we'd also spoken about the fact in Allie

107
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:03,200
Speaker 1: Springs that there were vehicles circling around the ambulance. Some

108
00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,559
Speaker 1: of these situations that our paramedics are in are very

109
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,000
Speaker 1: I would imagine, quite frightening ones. Now, I know that

110
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:11,000
Speaker 1: that's not every single day when you're out trying to

111
00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,920
Speaker 1: look after somebody. And I'm certainly not trying to make

112
00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,919
Speaker 1: excuses for what may be deemed substandard you know, is

113
00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:20,120
Speaker 1: substandard care. But what I do know is that you

114
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,400
Speaker 1: guys go out to help people in their hour of need.

115
00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,000
Speaker 1: I mean, what would you say to any territory in

116
00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:29,000
Speaker 1: listening this morning who might be thinking to themselves, you know,

117
00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:33,360
Speaker 1: this report has demonstrated that, you know then that they

118
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:36,600
Speaker 1: may not get the service delivery that they expect from

119
00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:37,120
Speaker 1: Saint John.

120
00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,760
Speaker 2: So I think first I'd like to say, as I

121
00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:42,560
Speaker 2: said before, our paramedics come to work every single day.

122
00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,640
Speaker 2: They're highly trained, their you know, got wealth of experience

123
00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 2: and knowledge through the academic learning and then obviously the

124
00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,680
Speaker 2: on learning that they get on road up here and

125
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,000
Speaker 2: the experiences that they get. And we know that across

126
00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:00,200
Speaker 2: the territory, some of the workload up here is it's

127
00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,000
Speaker 2: too come to the Northern Territory. No paramedic ever goes

128
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,120
Speaker 2: into a situation to make an error or cause harm

129
00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,520
Speaker 2: to a patient that goes against everything that that they

130
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,120
Speaker 2: want to and what they believe and what they take

131
00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:14,320
Speaker 2: as from their job. But you know, we do know

132
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,120
Speaker 2: that as we said, you know, with increasing workload pressures,

133
00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:22,920
Speaker 2: with the other pressures coming on board, we the report highlights,

134
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:25,280
Speaker 2: you know that some of the issues that we're facing

135
00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,160
Speaker 2: in terms of those workload and lack of resources and

136
00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:33,720
Speaker 2: the funding and the capacity not just in our frontline staff,

137
00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,480
Speaker 2: but in within the support services and the governance systems

138
00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,240
Speaker 2: to make sure that you know, we can continue to

139
00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:42,400
Speaker 2: make sure and monitor what we're doing. But as I said,

140
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,000
Speaker 2: you know, our paramics don't go to make an error,

141
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,360
Speaker 2: and and you know when a paramedic goes there and

142
00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:53,080
Speaker 2: makes some judgment calls and it may not be correct,

143
00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,120
Speaker 2: obviously it absolutely you know, apart from we know that

144
00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,120
Speaker 2: it has an impact on the patient and you know,

145
00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:01,800
Speaker 2: we always make sure that then that's been reported through

146
00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,280
Speaker 2: the hospital so they can be fixed up. But you know,

147
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,960
Speaker 2: it plays heavily on those paramedics as well, and so

148
00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,480
Speaker 2: you know, we take an approach that it's a when

149
00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 2: we're looking and reviewing these cases, how can we make

150
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,040
Speaker 2: improvements to the system, How can we make improvements to

151
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,920
Speaker 2: the safety structures and processes, and how can we support

152
00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,920
Speaker 2: those paramedics to then you know, work through that process

153
00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,440
Speaker 2: so that they can continually improve and that that forms what

154
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:29,360
Speaker 2: is good governance.

155
00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,120
Speaker 1: What have the paramedics sort of spoken to you since

156
00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,120
Speaker 1: you know this report has been like, how are the

157
00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:38,160
Speaker 1: staff feeling over the last twenty four.

158
00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:41,160
Speaker 2: Hours or so? Look, I think you know some of

159
00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,360
Speaker 2: the staff you know that I've sort of spoken to,

160
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,679
Speaker 2: a lot of them are sort of keen to know

161
00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,640
Speaker 2: what we're doing and what changes we're making, and a

162
00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,719
Speaker 2: lot of them, you know, have been able to identify

163
00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,240
Speaker 2: some of those areas where we're making changes. Some of

164
00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:57,600
Speaker 2: those changes are probably things that the front line staff

165
00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,280
Speaker 2: may not sort of really see that go on because

166
00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:03,680
Speaker 2: they're more sort of structural changes. And some of that

167
00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,439
Speaker 2: is about how we've spoken with NT Health and the

168
00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:10,160
Speaker 2: emergency departments how we can improve that reporting process both

169
00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:12,880
Speaker 2: ways so that if there are any concerns that we've

170
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:17,200
Speaker 2: got when as a collective team and working together, that

171
00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:19,440
Speaker 2: if there are concerns that are raised around you know,

172
00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,080
Speaker 2: what's the treatment we've provided, How can they feed that

173
00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,439
Speaker 2: to us in a timely way that we can work

174
00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:29,120
Speaker 2: collaborative together to investigate, work through the issues, and improve

175
00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:31,120
Speaker 2: those systems and improve the care that we're providing.

176
00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,160
Speaker 1: And so what are some of those changes that you've

177
00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,800
Speaker 1: had to implement that are going to make you know,

178
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,680
Speaker 1: that are going to make a difference and really see

179
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,200
Speaker 1: services improved. I guess yeah.

180
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,760
Speaker 2: Look, you know we've had a big focus on obviously

181
00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,360
Speaker 2: our clinical education and this is not just in the

182
00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,439
Speaker 2: last twelve months. You know, in the last three to

183
00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:52,120
Speaker 2: four years, we've bought in mandatory face to face training

184
00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:55,840
Speaker 2: days that link into the staff's accreditation each year for

185
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,720
Speaker 2: their authority to practice at their level, So whether that

186
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,440
Speaker 2: be as a patient gleef Our ICPS, which is the

187
00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:05,760
Speaker 2: intensive care paramedics, and they're that they're they're the highest

188
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,400
Speaker 2: qualified paramedics that we have in the Northern Territory and

189
00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:10,040
Speaker 2: they're the ones that you know are going to these

190
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,360
Speaker 2: high acuity cases and supporting the paramedics. So we've brought

191
00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:15,599
Speaker 2: a lot of work into them about training them in

192
00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:19,480
Speaker 2: terms of clinical leadership, it's about you know, supporting decision

193
00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,680
Speaker 2: making because obviously in those in those sort of high

194
00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:25,920
Speaker 2: acuity moments when you know cognitive overload can take over.

195
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,080
Speaker 2: We want to make sure that we've built a team

196
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,760
Speaker 2: based approach. So we've provided training to all of our

197
00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:33,960
Speaker 2: staff in terms of being able to all of our

198
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,280
Speaker 2: paramedics and patient transport services to be able to support

199
00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,679
Speaker 2: those icps, particularly when they're managing someone with that may

200
00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:44,480
Speaker 2: have a difficult airway that requires a focused attention by

201
00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,719
Speaker 2: the ICP. So clinical education, we've we've worked a lot

202
00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:51,480
Speaker 2: on our medication safety and how we can actually make

203
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,199
Speaker 2: sure that we're making sure that the correct dosages and

204
00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:57,160
Speaker 2: drugs are being delivered to patients, and you know that's

205
00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,520
Speaker 2: an ongoing process as well. You know, we've worked, as

206
00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:02,880
Speaker 2: I said, with the incident reporting and that's you know,

207
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:09,640
Speaker 2: we've always reported in any cases or any high incident

208
00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,440
Speaker 2: rated cases through to nt Health. That forms part of

209
00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,319
Speaker 2: obviously our governance structure. And there's been a lot of

210
00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,520
Speaker 2: operational changes that we've bought in as well, so to

211
00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,600
Speaker 2: support the staff to make sure that we're getting them breaks,

212
00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,760
Speaker 2: getting them at the equipment and the support that they need.

213
00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,600
Speaker 1: With the increase in demand for your services though, I

214
00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,000
Speaker 1: mean are we in a situation where Saint John requires

215
00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:31,960
Speaker 1: more funding.

216
00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:36,880
Speaker 2: Basically yes, To be honest, the and I think it's

217
00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:38,680
Speaker 2: about and this is the work that we're doing with

218
00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:42,720
Speaker 2: NTE Health and looking forward into the provision of ambulances

219
00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,640
Speaker 2: into the future is about you know, working what is

220
00:11:45,880 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 2: you know, while we're running a contemporary ambulance service at

221
00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,720
Speaker 2: the moment, we know that health scope is changing and

222
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:55,760
Speaker 2: demand is only going to increase. We know that the

223
00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,480
Speaker 2: hospital is hospitals across the Northern Territory and all of

224
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:02,959
Speaker 2: the health service providers are under pressure, so we need

225
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,640
Speaker 2: to find ways that we do things differently. We know

226
00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:08,320
Speaker 2: that we have around about thirty seven percent of the

227
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,360
Speaker 2: patients that we respond to we don't transport through to

228
00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,000
Speaker 2: hospital and so there's a lot of work goes We're

229
00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:18,079
Speaker 2: now going into how we can support those paramedics and

230
00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:20,679
Speaker 2: the crews that are responding there to have opportunities to

231
00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,200
Speaker 2: where can those patients go that don't have to go

232
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,079
Speaker 2: into a hospital system but still form part of the

233
00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:30,480
Speaker 2: hospital structure, so that the health structure that they're getting

234
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,560
Speaker 2: care that they need, but it may not be in hospital.

235
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,240
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of work that's going into that.

236
00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:36,760
Speaker 2: But you know, we know that our resources at the

237
00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,600
Speaker 2: moment as workload increases, you know, we're seeing the same

238
00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,320
Speaker 2: number of staff and the same number of resources in

239
00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,720
Speaker 2: locations and that's you know, leading it well, it's leading

240
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,480
Speaker 2: into those sort of delays that we're seeing in terms

241
00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:52,680
Speaker 2: of responses. We focus on our lights and sirens responses

242
00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:55,280
Speaker 2: and it's the triarch system. But you know there's those

243
00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,959
Speaker 2: people that are unwell but don't get our lights and

244
00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,959
Speaker 2: sirens response. We know that those times are extending out

245
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:06,280
Speaker 2: and that's just unfortunately where our workload exceeds our capacity

246
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:07,280
Speaker 2: on a regular basis.

247
00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:10,720
Speaker 1: Andrew, before I let you go onto well the work

248
00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,920
Speaker 1: that Saint John do, but a bit of a different path.

249
00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:18,000
Speaker 1: Fifty years as Cyclone Tracy is commemorated. We know that

250
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,920
Speaker 1: that too means fifty years for Saint John, doesn't it.

251
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,679
Speaker 2: Yeah. So you know last night we were at a

252
00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,880
Speaker 2: unveiling of a sign out the front of the PERP Station,

253
00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,400
Speaker 2: which PREP Station was actually the headquarters of Saint John

254
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:35,880
Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy four, and there was some of our

255
00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:38,640
Speaker 2: staff that were there last night. We're actually on duty

256
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,160
Speaker 2: that night wow at PREP Station, and you know they

257
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:44,920
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to speak, and we've unveiled a sign

258
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 2: out there that tells a lot of the history and

259
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,640
Speaker 2: the story of what happened there that night and then

260
00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:54,120
Speaker 2: in the subsequent days, the Perrap ambulance station there became

261
00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,439
Speaker 2: basically the major one of the major first aid points

262
00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,480
Speaker 2: across Darwin. And what we saw then was, you know,

263
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,800
Speaker 2: in effect, from there that was the pivotal moment I

264
00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:05,559
Speaker 2: suppose when you saw it where it was just volunteers

265
00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:08,439
Speaker 2: running at nighttime, to then over the next couple of

266
00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:11,079
Speaker 2: months where Saint John then took on the ambulance in

267
00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:13,319
Speaker 2: Darwin and then in their subsequent years took over the

268
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:17,320
Speaker 2: ambulance delivery across the Northern Territory. And that's fifty years

269
00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:19,560
Speaker 2: and we hope to be continuing to do that for

270
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:20,920
Speaker 2: well into the future.

271
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:22,680
Speaker 1: Well look, we are going to be doing a bit

272
00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,120
Speaker 1: of a Cyclone Tracy special in the lead into Christmas,

273
00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:27,560
Speaker 1: so I would love to speak if they're keen to

274
00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:31,040
Speaker 1: any of those any of those Saint John's staff that

275
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,400
Speaker 1: were actually working that day when Cyclone Tracy struck. I

276
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,240
Speaker 1: can't even begin to imagine the carnage that they must

277
00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:38,920
Speaker 1: have seen when they went out there and had to

278
00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:41,120
Speaker 1: go and help territorians in need. Yeah.

279
00:14:41,160 --> 00:14:44,720
Speaker 2: They you know, as was highlighted last night, there was

280
00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,400
Speaker 2: you know, while we had a couple of the people

281
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,760
Speaker 2: that were there, it was a team based effort and

282
00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,360
Speaker 2: not just those Sint John volunteers. It was their families

283
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,080
Speaker 2: and their children and a lot of them didn't go

284
00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,840
Speaker 2: home for four or five days because they didn't have

285
00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:00,840
Speaker 2: a home, but they stayed at the station. They provided care,

286
00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,560
Speaker 2: they built you know, they built up sort of areas

287
00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 2: to treat people, they provided food, and it was a

288
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,200
Speaker 2: location and point where they could assist the health services.

289
00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,800
Speaker 2: So it was an amazing and very emotional last night,

290
00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,680
Speaker 2: and particularly as we move into through Darwin this year

291
00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,480
Speaker 2: and as we get close to the fiftieth anniversary, there's

292
00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,520
Speaker 2: a lot of stories and they do touch the heart.

293
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:24,440
Speaker 1: They certainly do well. Saint John Director of Ambulance Services,

294
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,640
Speaker 1: Andrew Thomas. Always good to catch up with you. Thanks

295
00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,360
Speaker 1: for joining me in the studio. Thanks, thank you.