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Speaker 1: Now joining us on the line is Hatcher from the

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Speaker 1: Nursing and midwif Reunion here in the Northern Territory. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you Cash.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie Kass.

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Speaker 1: We have been here in quite a bit over recent

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Speaker 1: days and I guess throughout this year because we know

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Speaker 1: that we've now had three code yellows at Royal Darwin Hospital.

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Speaker 1: Kas from the nurses perspective, how are things going at

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Speaker 1: the moment?

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Speaker 2: Terrible. The whole of the NT is in crisis, not

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Speaker 2: just World Darwin or Palmerston Hospital and not so much

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Speaker 2: the other public health system but the remote and rural

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Speaker 2: and remote areas of the NT. Everyone's in crisis. No

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Speaker 2: one can get staff to work and it's putting more

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Speaker 2: of an impact on Royal Darwin from the top end,

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Speaker 2: with services being in the remote areas in crisis too. Chath.

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Speaker 1: What is causing this?

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Speaker 2: I think some of the extra work that's been impacted

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Speaker 2: on the Royal Darwin of recent months is some of

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Speaker 2: the non government organizations not being able to recruit or

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Speaker 2: retain staff and therefore this is impacting on services and

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Speaker 2: more influx of patients from the remote areas into Darwin well.

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Speaker 1: So we're seeing more of those remote patients obviously having

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Speaker 1: to travel into the likes of Darwin to get the

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Speaker 1: medical treatment that they require. Chas it sounds as though

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Speaker 1: that's having an impact then not only on the Royal

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Speaker 1: Darwin Hospital, but also the Palmerston Hospital.

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Speaker 2: I believe though but not as much in the Palmerston.

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Speaker 2: So there's also about sixty patients are non acute in

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Speaker 2: the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Regional Hospitals that really need

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Speaker 2: services in the community at age care facilities and dis facilities,

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Speaker 2: and there's no beds in that area. So some of

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Speaker 2: those sixty patients have been occupying beds greater than one

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Speaker 2: hundred days in both the Palmerston and the Royal Darwin Hospital,

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Speaker 2: so that's impacting on beds. So we need some more

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Speaker 2: age care beds, more NDS facility beds in the community,

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Speaker 2: and we need a purpose built dementia type facility in

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Speaker 2: the territory which we don't have.

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Speaker 1: I guess to talk about what is happening right now,

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Speaker 1: I know that the NT News is today reporting that

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Speaker 1: Royal Darwin Hospital was forced to repurpose award last month

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Speaker 1: to deal with a massive influx of mental health patients.

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Speaker 1: In the emergency department as well. How big an impact

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Speaker 1: is the influx of mental health patients having.

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Speaker 2: It is, they have had an increase over the last

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Speaker 2: four to six months. They're looking into why that is happening.

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Speaker 2: It's not just COVID, but they haven't got the data

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Speaker 2: to us for me to really nail do down and

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Speaker 2: exactly what is happening. But yes, they haven't have had

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Speaker 2: enough beds in the mental health inpatient facility, so they

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Speaker 2: have had to close off one half of a ward

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Speaker 2: and make another mental health inpatient unit within the Tower

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Speaker 2: block of Royal Darwin Hospital to accommodate the extra patients.

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Speaker 1: Cather when you talk then about some of the mental

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Speaker 1: health patients that have been through the emergency department and

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Speaker 1: obviously the fact that they've then had to go into

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Speaker 1: another half of a ward but probably aren't in you know,

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Speaker 1: purpose built facility that realistically is you know, is equipped

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Speaker 1: to deal with mental health patients. I mean, are nurses

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Speaker 1: concerned for their safety or are they feeling okay at

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Speaker 1: this point.

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Speaker 2: Well, they're putting nurses into that half award in the

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Speaker 2: main block that have got experience with mental health or

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Speaker 2: mental health background. And then therefore the doctors are also

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Speaker 2: seeing them as well, So the other half of that

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Speaker 2: ward did have concerns initially, but they don't have any

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Speaker 2: concerns now. They're quite happy that they're there and that

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Speaker 2: they are stable enough not to impact on the other

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Speaker 2: half that would bryan their patients and staff.

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Speaker 1: Cass. I know that there has been sort of a

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Speaker 1: lot of people wondering whether the staffing of the Howard

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Speaker 1: Springs facility falling under the Northern Territory Health Department rather

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Speaker 1: than the OSMA, you know, the way that it had

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Speaker 1: previously been managed, whether that was going to have an

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Speaker 1: impact on our hospitals. Do you feel as though it has.

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Speaker 2: It definitely has. In the beginning of the year, the

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Speaker 2: Antique government said that it wouldn't impact, but it certainly has.

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Speaker 2: They've had a number of and I don't know the

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Speaker 2: actual figures, but they definitely have had a number of

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Speaker 2: staff who have gone across to the Howard Springs facility

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Speaker 2: with a better level like sorry, I'm just trying to

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Speaker 2: find my right way. They've gone an increase in their qualification,

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Speaker 2: they've got an increase in their level of pay, and

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Speaker 2: it's a level of experience that you know they may

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Speaker 2: never get again within their careers. So yes, that has

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Speaker 2: impacted on particularly four areas Emergency department, I see you,

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Speaker 2: mental health, dialysis and Theater and surgical area of wal Darwin.

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Speaker 1: Chass, how many staff? Do you have any idea of

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Speaker 1: the number of staff that have gone across really to

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Speaker 1: work out there and Howard Springs that we've then lost

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Speaker 1: to the hospital.

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Speaker 2: No, no, no, Unfortunately I don't have that number, but

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Speaker 2: I'm guessing at around twenty pea patient, sorry, twenty staff approximately,

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Speaker 2: maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less.

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Speaker 1: Chass. You said right at the start of this interview,

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Speaker 1: is that the reality is that we're at chrisis point.

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Speaker 1: What's your message for the government today.

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Speaker 2: They need to find better beds and facility for those

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Speaker 2: non acute patients within Royal Darwin Hospital, those sixty patients

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Speaker 2: that have been there greater than one hundred days. They

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Speaker 2: need to either talk with the private sector about finding building,

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Speaker 2: maybe buying some houses that they can accommodate three or

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Speaker 2: four clients within their houses to get them out of

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Speaker 2: the acute beds facility of Royal Darwin. We need to

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Speaker 2: really cut back and look at the basics and staff

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Speaker 2: appropriately within the Emergency Department, ICU theater and the mental

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Speaker 2: health which they are recruiting, advertised and recruiting, but they

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Speaker 2: are struggling to find staff to come into the facility.

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Speaker 2: The emergency department nurses always say to us that they're

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Speaker 2: quite happy when a code yellow is called because things

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Speaker 2: do progress and double bunking is ceased and patients that

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Speaker 2: perhaps could be accommodated somewhere else apart from being in

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Speaker 2: the acute Royal Darwin Hospital Palmerston Hospital beds they accommodated

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Speaker 2: then somewhere else. But it's it's the sitting at over

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Speaker 2: one hundred percent capacity all the time for Royal Dahen

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Speaker 2: Hospital is not a good thing. Their last couple of

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Speaker 2: years and even before COVID they were sitting around one

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Speaker 2: hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty percent capacity.

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Speaker 2: Now they're sitting around one hundred and forty percent capacity.

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Speaker 2: We also need to find out why there's an increase. Well,

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Speaker 2: we know that there's an increase. We referral and transfer

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Speaker 2: rate from communities that needs to be sourced and worked

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Speaker 2: out why So I believe last month an increase of

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Speaker 2: thirty eight percent coming from remote into world Darwin Hospital

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Speaker 2: and that's impacting all of those areas as.

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Speaker 1: Well, Kats, I tell you what it sounds like. Our

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Speaker 1: nursing staff, our medical staff, all of the support staff

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Speaker 1: out there are doing it pretty tough, and it's some

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Speaker 1: really hard work that is going on right from those

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Speaker 1: remote areas right into the Northern Territory or into our

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Speaker 1: urban centers at the hospital here in Darwin and Palveston.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the pressure on the system is at the moment unsustainable,

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Speaker 2: and their staff are exhausted and they're feeling like, you know,

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Speaker 2: their jobs at risk, their registrations at risk. They're trying.

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Speaker 2: They're very dedicated workers within the health system that they

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Speaker 2: are near breaking point and they just want to give

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Speaker 2: the best care to their patients, but they feel incompromised.

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Speaker 2: They're continuously working double shifts and regular over time. But

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Speaker 2: that's going to hit and come to a breaking point

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Speaker 2: at some stage soon, Chess.

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Speaker 1: If something is not done here, what's going to happen?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think staff are going to leave, They're going

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Speaker 2: to go into state if they're not going to get

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Speaker 2: that support and the extra staff, which really I'm not

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Speaker 2: too sure where they're going to get the extra staff

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Speaker 2: because when I speak to my cohorts within the other

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Speaker 2: states and territories, they're in very similar circumstances because other

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Speaker 2: staff are being utilized, as we know, in Howard Springs

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Speaker 2: or Alice Springs quarantine facilities giving vaccines contact tracing. So

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Speaker 2: I know the government is working very hard to get

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Speaker 2: those clinical staff in those three areas back to the

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Speaker 2: forefront of the world, Darwin and the Palmerston hospitals particularly,

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Speaker 2: but also Alice Springs as well. But it is putting

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Speaker 2: a big compromise of this COVID and the vaccine and

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Speaker 2: the contact tracing right around Australia with lack of staff

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Speaker 2: on the foreground in the hospitals.

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Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, kath Hatcher, we really appreciate

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. I think that it's a really

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Speaker 1: important discussion that needs to be had. We do want

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Speaker 1: all of our staff at the hospitals and in those

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Speaker 1: remote areas, all of our health staff, particularly our nurses

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Speaker 1: and doctors and the support staff there to know that

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Speaker 1: we think they're doing a tremendous job under what is

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Speaker 1: very difficult circumstances and we thank them for the work

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Speaker 1: that they do.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And if I can just say to your audience

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Speaker 2: that if you feel that you need to see a doctor,

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Speaker 2: please go to your GP first and utilize their expertise

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Speaker 2: and trying not to go to the emergency departments.

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Speaker 1: Good call, Kath. I really appreciate you talking to me

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Speaker 1: this morning. Kath Hatcher, thanks so much for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie, thank you.

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Speaker 1: That's Kath Hatcher, the head of the Australian Nursing Amy

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Speaker 1: BEF reunion here in the Northern Territory. Pretty explosive stuff,

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Speaker 1: I mean, she says that we are at crisis point

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Speaker 1: and we need to really make some changes.