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Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf on Mix one oh four

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Speaker 1: point nine thanks to Joyce Main Darwin. Well, as we know,

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Speaker 1: the vaccine rollout for everyone has begun today and the

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Speaker 1: Minister for Health Natasha Files joins me on the line

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Speaker 1: right now.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to your minister.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, Good morning listeners.

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Speaker 2: Minister.

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Speaker 1: Did the Federal government take much convincing to make this

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Speaker 1: role out open to everyone over the age of sixteen?

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Speaker 3: So this is a good sensible outcome for the Northern Territory, Katie,

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Speaker 3: based on a number of factors, the fact we have

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Speaker 3: a high indigenous population, a very mobile population and a

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Speaker 3: particularly vulnerable population. And we certainly thank the Australian Government,

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Speaker 3: particularly the Prime Minister and the Federal Minister for Health

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Speaker 3: or allowing the Northern Territory to collapse the phases and

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Speaker 3: make anyone from today eligible for the coronavirus vaccine if

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Speaker 3: the age sixteen in above.

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Speaker 2: Now are we.

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Speaker 1: Going to see a new vaccine hubs set up or

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Speaker 1: what's the situation in terms of the roll out?

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Speaker 3: So we do ask Katie your listeners and we'd be

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Speaker 3: really pleased if they're excited by this announcement. They want

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Speaker 3: to get vaccinated to be patient with us. We have

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Speaker 3: changed the online booking system so from today they can

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Speaker 3: go on there and make that booking and they might

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Speaker 3: not get a booking for you a couple of weeks,

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Speaker 3: but they will get a booking and they know they've

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Speaker 3: got that locked in. In terms of the locations to

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Speaker 3: get the vaccine, there's a number of locations across the

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Speaker 3: territory presently, but yes, we will be standing up a

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Speaker 3: mass vaccination hub in Darwin in the Darwin urban area

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Speaker 3: so that we can help get these numbers through of

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Speaker 3: the vaccine, particularly as we see the supply increase. The

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Speaker 3: Commonwealth Government has identified over the next few months they'll

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Speaker 3: see an increase in some supplies and we'll be able

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Speaker 3: to utilize that.

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Speaker 1: Where exactly do you think this Max's Vaccination Hub will

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Speaker 1: be so, Katie.

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Speaker 3: I, I'm not able to talk about locations. Department of

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Speaker 3: Health are looking forward right now to where would be

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Speaker 3: the best location that people can easily access and that

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Speaker 3: also meets the requirements for delivering vaccine. So clearly we

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Speaker 3: need to have areas where people can wait, we need

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Speaker 3: to have privacy, we need to have the fridges. But

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Speaker 3: they're working through that and we'll certainly communicate that. But

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Speaker 3: presently there's forty two GP clinics. There's also the ant

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Speaker 3: health clinics and also our original health clinics, so there's

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Speaker 3: locations throughout the territory where people can get vaccinated.

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Speaker 1: How soon do you anticipate that this max Vaccination Hub

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Speaker 1: would be going though, would be operating.

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Speaker 3: So we're looking at that through July, Katie, and it

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Speaker 3: can clearly update the community as we get more information.

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Speaker 3: But the collapsing of the phases provides an opportunity for

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Speaker 3: the Northern Territory for territorians to get out there and

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Speaker 3: get vaccinated and continue to lead through this pandemic.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think most people are pretty pleased with yesterday's announcement. Unfortunately, though,

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Speaker 1: there still seems to be a lot of concern about

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Speaker 1: the changes which are being implemented out at Howard Springs. Now,

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Speaker 1: yesterday we heard from Cath Hatcher, the Branch Secretary of

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Speaker 1: the Australian Nursing and Midway Free Federation. She is calling

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Speaker 1: for the use of the PCR saliva tests happening daily

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Speaker 1: to be halted and the recommencement of the rapid antigen

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Speaker 1: test that nasal swab Howard Springs.

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Speaker 2: Now, Minister, is this a done deal.

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Speaker 1: Or will you be listening to the concerns of nurses

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Speaker 1: and the staff at Howard Springs and looking to change back.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, we always listen to the kingdoms, particularly those

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Speaker 3: on the front lane. They certainly each and every day

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Speaker 3: they're going out there putting themselves at risk to care

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Speaker 3: for people. So I look forward to meeting with cass

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Speaker 3: later today around her concerns that there has been correspondence

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Speaker 3: between my office and the Nurs's Federation to date, but

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Speaker 3: we certainly acknowledge the amazing job particularly those nurses and

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Speaker 3: clinical staff are doing. This decision was based from the

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Speaker 3: Chief Health Officer based on clinical evidence, but as I said,

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Speaker 3: we're continually reviewing these things and I look forward to

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Speaker 3: meeting with the federation.

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Speaker 2: Was this a financial decision.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely not, Katie. I think that's really important for your listeners.

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Speaker 3: As I've said before, the facility at Howard Springs is

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Speaker 3: being paid for by the Commonwealth Government. Now it is

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Speaker 3: a pay on invoice, so it's not like if we

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Speaker 3: save on the delivery of services, we can save that money,

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Speaker 3: but the Commonwealth Government cover all cost out there. So

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Speaker 3: This was a clinical decision from the Acting Chief Health

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Speaker 3: Officer based on evidence. But we have been there has

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Speaker 3: been commentary in the media, and we've heard the concerns

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Speaker 3: from the Nurse Confederation and we look forward to meeting them.

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Speaker 1: Well, yeah, Katatcher said yesterday that the nursing staff will

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Speaker 1: not be living on Howard Springs anymore, and these high

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Speaker 1: risk staff could be leaving the facility and go into

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Speaker 1: the community as COVID positive and wouldn't possibly know until

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Speaker 1: the next day when they get their PCR saliva test results.

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Speaker 1: I mean, is this a warry? Is this a worry

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Speaker 1: for the larger community?

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, the testing regime that's in place of Howard

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Speaker 3: Springs is it the direction of the Acting Chief Health Officer.

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Speaker 3: It is an improved system and it's the best available system,

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Speaker 3: we believe. So we'll work through the concerns that they

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Speaker 3: are going to raise with us. We've certainly heard those,

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Speaker 3: But it is important for your listeners to understand that

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Speaker 3: there is a strong testing regime in place right now.

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Speaker 3: There has been a change, and that's because as we

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Speaker 3: learned more about the virus, we've been able to accommodate that.

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Speaker 3: But we certainly will hear their concerns and they'll be

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Speaker 3: addressed from a clinical base.

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Speaker 1: Minister, did you support the decision to scrape the rapid

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Speaker 1: antigen testing?

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, I support our chief Health officer and the

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Speaker 3: decisions that they make. I think it is also important

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Speaker 3: to balance that though, with the voices of not only

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Speaker 3: those clinical stuff but the community. But to reassure the

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Speaker 3: community right now that there is a testing process in place.

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Speaker 3: It is a strong, rigorous testing process. We've learned more

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Speaker 3: about the virus and we've made changes to those regimes,

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Speaker 3: and when changes happen, people sometimes don't fully understand that.

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Speaker 3: So we'll make sure that the federation and the nurses

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Speaker 3: and the community understand the decisions that have been made,

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Speaker 3: and if we need to make further changes, we won't

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Speaker 3: hesitate to do so.

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Speaker 2: So you're not ruling out a change here.

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Speaker 3: I'm not going to rule out a change, Katie, into

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Speaker 3: the future, because we don't know what we'll learn about

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Speaker 3: the virus. We don't know around the testing regimes what

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Speaker 3: may come up. So we've seen right the way through,

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Speaker 3: we've been responsive and we've been agile. The way we

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Speaker 3: deal with this virus now is very different to the

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Speaker 3: way we were dealing with it twelve months ago. I

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Speaker 3: guess will continue to look at the evidence and make decisions.

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Speaker 1: I mean, the concern here is that yesterday Cath Hatcher

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Speaker 1: didn't rule out the possible industrial action. If this decision

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Speaker 1: isn't reversed, how I mean, how are you going to

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Speaker 1: deal with that? If we wind up in a situation

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Speaker 1: where our health staff out there at Howard Springs refused

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Speaker 1: to do or refuse to go out there because of

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Speaker 1: this testing.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, as we've learned more about COVID nineteen, our

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Speaker 3: technology and processes and testing have changed, and they will

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Speaker 3: continue to change. We've got extensive capacity for PCR testing

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Speaker 3: and the territory we can turn those tests around. But

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Speaker 3: I am not discounting the views of those frontline staff

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Speaker 3: who are represented by the federation, And as I said,

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Speaker 3: I'll be meeting them later today to hear directly from them,

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Speaker 3: and I will then seek the advice of our acting

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Speaker 3: Chief Health Officer and will continue to work through these

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Speaker 3: issues as they are.

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Speaker 1: So it does sound to me like you're actually open

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Speaker 1: to some movement. I mean, what you've just said, then

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Speaker 1: you're going to meet with the nurses Union, hear their concerns.

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Speaker 1: If you actually agree with their concerns, then you're going

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Speaker 1: to have a conversation with the Acting Chief Health Officer.

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Speaker 3: Of course, I'll give their concerns due process. I think

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Speaker 3: the original use of antigen testing at Howard Springs was

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Speaker 3: introduced at a time when we didn't have the ability

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Speaker 3: to use that rapid PCR testing. We now have that

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Speaker 3: capacity and as I just said, we can test extensively

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Speaker 3: with the PCR. So we will listen to their concerns,

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Speaker 3: seek the advice of the Chief Health Officer, and will

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Speaker 3: continue to make decisions that protect territory in and you

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Speaker 3: can absolutely be sure, minister.

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Speaker 1: Can I ask how is all this additional testing? Obviously

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Speaker 1: you know these test changes out at Howard Springs, but

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Speaker 1: also when we talk about all the COVID testing that's

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Speaker 1: having to get underway with those repatriated Australians and also

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Speaker 1: with Aussies that have been in self quarantine, what kind

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Speaker 1: of demand is this placing on pathology?

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Speaker 3: So pathology and I would like to knowledge pathology, Katie

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Speaker 3: Off when we talk about the nurses and doctors, and

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Speaker 3: we've got wonderful teams behind that support and they have

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Speaker 3: done an amazing job. We saw just it ten days

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Speaker 3: or so ago when we needed huge numbers from Victoria

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Speaker 3: tests and they stepped up and tested you know, did

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Speaker 3: those laboratory work around the clock. But we do certainly

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Speaker 3: have capacity there, Katie. We can run through about two

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Speaker 3: thousand tests a day and that can be increased again

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Speaker 3: from there. So in terms of the laboratories and the testing,

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Speaker 3: I've acknowledged the staff and we certainly had strong capacity there.

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Speaker 1: Okay, because we had had some people get in contact

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Speaker 1: with us talking about delays being experienced by people who've

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Speaker 1: been for those COVID tests i e. Those that have

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Speaker 1: been in self isolation following on from that Victorian hotspot declaration.

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Speaker 1: But my understanding is that some of them had been

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Speaker 1: told that there was a delay because the testing of

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Speaker 1: repatriated Australia instead of staying out at Howard Springs is

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Speaker 1: being given priority.

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Speaker 2: Is that the case, Katie.

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Speaker 3: I'm not aware of that operational detail. I'm happy to

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Speaker 3: go away and ask the question what I can days.

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Speaker 3: We can cater for thousands of tests per day if

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Speaker 3: people have waited a reasonable amount of time post their

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Speaker 3: tests seventy two hours or so, and they still haven't heard.

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Speaker 3: They should reach out because we do have an admin

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Speaker 3: team that are putting those results in the text messages

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Speaker 3: to individuals that have been tested. I've had tests and

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Speaker 3: I've received those text messages, but you know, things do

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Speaker 3: go astray, and so I have had raised with me directly,

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Speaker 3: someone that you know, five days later hasn't heard. So

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Speaker 3: you know, if it's been a reasonable amount of time,

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Speaker 3: you can reach out to check something hasn't gone astray.

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Speaker 3: But what you've raised there around the fact that we've

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Speaker 3: delayed local testing for those internationals. You need to remember

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Speaker 3: that we're talking less than two hundred people arriving on

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Speaker 3: each international flight, and we've got the capacity of doing

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Speaker 3: around two thousand tests a day. So I'll seek some

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Speaker 3: further retires. Yeah, that doesn't seem reasonable.

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Speaker 1: Well, yeah, because I was going to say, I mean,

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day, I think if they're

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Speaker 1: in Howard Springs and they're in quarantine, nobody's disputing that

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Speaker 1: they should definitely be getting tested.

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Speaker 2: There's no doubt about that.

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Speaker 1: But then if there's locals that are delayed being able

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Speaker 1: to get back to work because they're not able to

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Speaker 1: get their test results back, it just sort of seems

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Speaker 1: to me like the priority should be those locals being

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Speaker 1: able to get back into the community and keep the

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Speaker 1: economy ticking over.

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Speaker 3: And the byce I've got is that we've got the

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Speaker 3: capacity for both. So I'll take that away and ask

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Speaker 3: them questions for the Department Health.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, one of the other things that I did

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Speaker 1: want to speak to you about this morning is the

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Speaker 1: claims that there is a shortage of beds when it

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Speaker 1: comes to mental health patients at Royal Dahin Hospital. I

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Speaker 1: know that this is not a new issue in the

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Speaker 1: sense that we have had had concerns in this space

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Speaker 1: for quite some time and there is work underway, but

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Speaker 1: there had been claims. Sources have told us here at

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Speaker 1: Mixwanow four point nine that there was seventeen beds last

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Speaker 1: week that were taken by mental health patients who couldn't

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Speaker 1: be placed into the mental health ward. There was also

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Speaker 1: mental health patients kept in emergency for up to three days.

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Speaker 1: Have you been advised of a shortage when it comes

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Speaker 1: to mental health at the hospital at the moment?

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Speaker 3: So caading mental health has been and the availability of

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Speaker 3: services has been a strong focus for me as a

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Speaker 3: minister and we've seen in investments from the Commonwealth Government.

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Speaker 3: We've also launched initiatives such as the Corresponder Model. But yes,

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Speaker 3: I do acknowledge that mental health patients have caused a

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Speaker 3: burden on Rosaland Hospital, and I'm working with RDIH and

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Speaker 3: the Department of Health around how we can alleviate those pressures.

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Speaker 3: I don't have specific bed numbers. RDIH has been incredibly busy.

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Speaker 3: We haven't had a Code yellow in recent weeks, but

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Speaker 3: it is an incredibly busy hospital and I'd like to

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Speaker 3: acknowledge all of those staff, whether they're doctors, mersers, but

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Speaker 3: those people that support them, such as the PCAs and

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Speaker 3: the cleaners and the catering stuff. We have had an

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Speaker 3: incredibly busy time. There's not one factor. Certainly mental health

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Speaker 3: could be pointed to, but there's been other factors and

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Speaker 3: reasons why that this is an issue where we're working

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Speaker 3: through with investment in more beds at Rozaland Hospital, in

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Speaker 3: patient beds, but also trying to have services that alleviate

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Speaker 3: that need for a mental health patient to come into

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Speaker 3: an acuit, so think such as the Corresponder model.

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Speaker 1: Now, we had also been told that there was a

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Speaker 1: stabbing a security guard was stabbed at Royal dah And

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Speaker 1: Hospital last month. In May, the Northern Territory Health Department

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Speaker 1: have confirmed that an incident in Royal dah And Hospital

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Speaker 1: Emergency department in early May where a staff member received

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Speaker 1: injuries from a patient assault. Why was that incident not

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Speaker 1: made public?

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Speaker 3: So that incident is unacceptable. Any incident against our frontline

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Speaker 3: health staff is unacceptable. You know, aggression and violence is

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Speaker 3: not tolerated, and Tody, we do see from time to

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Speaker 3: time patients and their families. I'm fairly taking out, you know,

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Speaker 3: on our staff and so it's not acceptable, Katie. In

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Speaker 3: terms of the incident and why it wasn't reported, I

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Speaker 3: was made aware of an operational incident. We you know,

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Speaker 3: don't you know, put everything out into the media. These

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Speaker 3: incidents sadly do take place, and that staff member, the

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Speaker 3: situation was de escalated, was treated and transferred into an

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Speaker 3: appropriate unit. That staff members being supported. But we do

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Speaker 3: not tolerate the aggression in violence. Our health workers are

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Speaker 3: doing a tough job in trying circumstances and people need

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Speaker 3: to respect that if they're accessing medical services.

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Speaker 1: Minister, if we have got a situation where we've got

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Speaker 1: some high need mental health patients who are having to

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Speaker 1: be accommodated in other parts of the hospital and not

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Speaker 1: specifically in the mental health area. Does it put themselves

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Speaker 1: and the wider community at a risk.

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Speaker 3: So, Katie, we've identified the need for more mental health

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Speaker 3: in patient beds and that's why we're building a facility

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Speaker 3: with eighteen more beds. Obviously, we can't just simply do

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Speaker 3: that overnight, so we've put in place other programs to

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Speaker 3: try and alleviate those acute pressures. But we certainly identify

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Speaker 3: mental health as a need in the Northern Territory health

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Speaker 3: system and we're working to address that.

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Speaker 2: Minister.

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Speaker 1: Just finally this morning, one other thing I do want

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Speaker 1: to ask you about is the front page of the paper.

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Speaker 1: It is being reported that Uberant has had to be

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Speaker 1: taken off the shelves in some Coals supermarkets.

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Speaker 2: This is obviously a big.

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Speaker 1: Concern if we've got people misusing well household and hygiene

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Speaker 1: products in an absolutely horrifying way.

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Speaker 3: Oh, Katie, this is something that is unacceptable and we

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Speaker 3: need everyone in the community to be aware. We do

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Speaker 3: need to have community supporting it. And I thank both

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Speaker 3: supermarkets and thank people for that small inconvenience. We're certainly

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Speaker 3: working through it at a deeper level, working with community

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Speaker 3: around management plans and how we address voltile subjects abuse.

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Speaker 3: This is something that's not unusual. We've seen various products

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Speaker 3: over the years taken off the shelves and put behind

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Speaker 3: counter so to speak, such as massolated spirits. But we

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Speaker 3: are working on an effective model of care, particularly with

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Speaker 3: VSA in certain communities and in Darwin as well.

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Speaker 1: Minister, have we had an increase in the number of

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Speaker 1: people presenting for health health support who have been misusing

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Speaker 1: the likes of deodorant.

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Speaker 3: It's o Katie. I don't have specific figures, but I

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Speaker 3: think that's certainly you know, anecdotally, I could say yes

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Speaker 3: to that, and that's why we're working in this framework,

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Speaker 3: working with police, community health promotion activities to raise the

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Speaker 3: awareness and the dangers, and then working with our health

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Speaker 3: services and other partners to address this issue.

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Speaker 1: All right, Minister for Health, Natasha Files, we are going

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Speaker 1: to have to leave it there. Thank you very much

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Speaker 1: for your time this morning.

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Speaker 3: Thank you