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Speaker 1: Now a shortage of beds is again causing disruptions for

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Speaker 1: staff at top end hospitals, with another Code yellow declared

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Speaker 1: for the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals. Nt Health confirming

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Speaker 1: yesterday that a code yellow had been issued for the

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Speaker 1: two hospitals well on Tuesday, in fact, due to a

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Speaker 1: peak in hospital demand and high occupancy rates. It is,

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Speaker 1: as we understand it, the fifth for this year. Elective

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Speaker 1: surgeries have not been deferred this time round. But joining

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Speaker 1: me on the line to talk more about the situation

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Speaker 1: is doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the

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Speaker 1: Australian Medical Association here in the Northern Territory. Good morning,

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Speaker 1: doctor Parker, Morning Katie. What is causing the latest code yellow?

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Speaker 1: From your perspective, Well.

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Speaker 2: Again, coming back to the old chestnut, the letter I

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Speaker 2: think the Greek hunt in twenty nineteen point of our

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Speaker 2: church hospitals will us use in Australia And I understand

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Speaker 2: there's been just a gradual increase in people who are

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Speaker 2: basically there care and nursing homes, occupying hospital beds while

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Speaker 2: they wait for those nursing homes. So unfortunately these people

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Speaker 2: are very disabled. There's nowhere else for them to be

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Speaker 2: treated until the nursing home bet becomes available, and more

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Speaker 2: and more beds are being occupied by these individuals, which

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Speaker 2: means that when you get a spike in a problem

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Speaker 2: such as an indexts disease or a mental health issue

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Speaker 2: or increasing for some reason and surgical stuff, you've got

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Speaker 2: no other beds to use, so the hospital's got to

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Speaker 2: go through a code yellow, Doctor Parker.

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Speaker 1: What are doctors telling you within the hospital right now?

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Speaker 3: Like, how great is the stress on them?

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Speaker 2: Well, I've been I've been an ed regularly cadious part

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Speaker 2: of a normal work and people are double bunk which

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Speaker 2: is obviously not of an ideal situation. We have to

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Speaker 2: share your bay with somebody else, and you know, there

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Speaker 2: is really very little privacy involved in that situation. And

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Speaker 2: I mean again, I pay tribute to the great heroes

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Speaker 2: in the hospital, doctors, nurses, ots, physios, cleaners, kitchen stuff,

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Speaker 2: all of who make the process work.

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Speaker 1: They truly do and as you said, they are the

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Speaker 1: heroes of the hospital. They're out there working their butts

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Speaker 1: off to make sure that people are still treated, Doctor Parker.

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Speaker 3: In terms of those.

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Speaker 1: You know, the issue and what is causing this strain

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Speaker 1: on the hospital. So it's it is you know the

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Speaker 1: fact that we've got patients who really do need a

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Speaker 1: space in aged care.

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Speaker 3: From your perspective, that's correct, you.

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Speaker 2: Know, and you know ideally it's not good for these

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Speaker 2: people obviously being in a busy hospital ward when you're

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Speaker 2: old and sick and you it's much more dignified and

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Speaker 2: comfortable to be in an agecare bed, you know, which

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Speaker 2: is much more appropriate to your needs. And of course

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Speaker 2: the increased risk for these individuals to pick up hospital

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Speaker 2: acquiet infection just because they is so there's more risk

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Speaker 2: for these individuals being in hospital than being in an

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Speaker 2: agecare bed. But unfortunately, you know, because of the I

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Speaker 2: suppose the delay and I mean again the points back

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Speaker 2: to both sides of government over a number of years

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Speaker 2: off a particular fold of one side of government. But

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Speaker 2: you know, the lack of agecare beds and the territory

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Speaker 2: is becoming more and more apparent, and this is a

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Speaker 2: major pressure now in the hospital system.

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Speaker 3: It truly is.

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Speaker 1: It's something that we get contacted about very regularly.

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Speaker 3: You know.

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Speaker 1: We had some really sad situations the last time that

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Speaker 1: there was a code yellow where people were sending me

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Speaker 1: extensive emails saying Katie, you know our family can't cope

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Speaker 1: with our with our loved one who is old and

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Speaker 1: has dementia, you know, who's not able to get a

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Speaker 1: space in the hospital. It's an enormous strain on families

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Speaker 1: and I just don't know where we sort of go

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Speaker 1: from here, Dr Parker, while we wait.

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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, there's not much we can do, Katie until these

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Speaker 2: beds are building staffs. And when I was getting back

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Speaker 2: to VET was sort of interesting. I think that I

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Speaker 2: was talking about BET training, BET trainings for the agecre mob,

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Speaker 2: not for medical stuff, but the Channel nine inter evident,

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Speaker 2: but the yeah we need it's not just having a

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Speaker 2: big author and its staff who who can appropriately care individuals.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the recent Royal Commission made that very obvious,

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Speaker 2: but there was a sergnificant problem with care even in

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Speaker 2: existing beds. So you know, it's a massive investment required

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Speaker 2: both in terms of bricks and mortar, but also in

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Speaker 2: staff training to make sure that people who are very

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Speaker 2: disabled as described by this family are comfortably in be

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Speaker 2: cared for in a dignified manner.

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Speaker 3: How many beds do you reckon? We need?

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Speaker 1: Like, how many beds short are when it comes to

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Speaker 1: age care, Well, I.

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Speaker 2: Think the hospital I mean in forum sources, well, I

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Speaker 2: think we need probably at least another hundred that hdre

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Speaker 2: beds pretty much. You know, if we could imagine wave

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Speaker 2: a magic wand and get the business start, one hundred

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Speaker 2: would probably help, I think.

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Speaker 3: And we're to have we do to have about sixty

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Speaker 3: come online. Is that correct?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think they're working towards that. We've got the

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Speaker 2: new we've got the war which I think is going

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Speaker 2: to have thirty extra beds, and of course, while we've

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Speaker 2: got the bricks and mortar, we've got no guarantee of

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Speaker 2: the ongoing costs. And I think I said before my

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Speaker 2: understanding that you know, a one bed in a hospital

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Speaker 2: cost about a million dollars a year in terms of

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Speaker 2: the staffing to make it work. So you know, while

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Speaker 2: we've got the promise of bricks and mortar in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty five, we've got no promise of the funding required

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Speaker 2: for the staffing. But yeah, certainly I understand this possibly

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Speaker 2: an agreement about sixty hpre business. I'll sure where they're

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Speaker 2: going to be. But again I haven't seen the definite

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Speaker 2: announcements about bricks and mortar and the establishment where they're

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Speaker 2: going to be and who's going to build them.

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Speaker 3: And whatever, Doctor Parker.

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Speaker 1: We have had people raise concerns with us as well

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Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks about I think it's

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Speaker 1: called ramping of the ambulances where they are parked outside

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Speaker 1: while they wait for there, you know, to be a

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Speaker 1: space or for them to be able to bring patients

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Speaker 1: in to the ED.

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Speaker 3: Are you being told about that?

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Speaker 2: Well, m Katie, I'm a regular visitor are in terms

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Speaker 2: of my clinical work, I'm very aware of ramping and

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Speaker 2: purring and other jurisdiction such as South Australia And I

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Speaker 2: was in the meeting of AMA presidents last night and

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Speaker 2: the Soustralian president is very concerned about ramping in his

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Speaker 2: state and the issues with that. But what I've seen

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Speaker 2: in med is that there's very very little ramping in

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Speaker 2: the territory patients. I've never seen patients just sitting out.

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Speaker 2: I've seen patients given appropriate care as soon as they arrive.

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Speaker 2: So you know, touchwood working yourself on the head. I

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Speaker 2: don't think there's actually a major drama with ramping in

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Speaker 2: the territory currently.

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Speaker 1: That is good to hear. Dr Parker, have we got

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Speaker 1: enough staff? I mean, is that what it also comes

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Speaker 1: down to. I know you said we need those beds,

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Speaker 1: but as you've also touched on, we've got to make

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Speaker 1: sure we've got the staff to be able to care

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Speaker 1: for people in those beds.

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Speaker 2: Well, there's always been particular issues with staffing in the territory.

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Speaker 2: I mean, the territory has just generally got a much

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Speaker 2: younger population, and we've often had significant sort of shifts

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Speaker 2: of stuff. So young people come up here as part

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Speaker 2: of life's adventure to do stuff, and they stay for

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Speaker 2: a while and move on to get the mortgage on

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Speaker 2: the part of down out, So we haven't got that

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Speaker 2: sort of staffing reserve that's usually there with older people

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Speaker 2: who who've had the mortgage in the family and are

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Speaker 2: still working. It isn't the territory, but it's less than it.

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Speaker 2: There's the Southern States. So we've always had issues with

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Speaker 2: significant shortages of staff in particular periods when people decide

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Speaker 2: to move, you know, like Christmas time. It's always very

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Speaker 2: difficult to find staff at Christmas time because people are

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Speaker 2: leaving and whatever. So yeah, it is a significant issue,

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Speaker 2: and I know it's a major and Zerms for Territory

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Speaker 2: Health to try and stabilize staffing.

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Speaker 1: Do you think that we are going to just have

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Speaker 1: a situation in the territory until we have some additional

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Speaker 1: age care beads, that we are going to be in

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Speaker 1: a situation in the territory where we do have these

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Speaker 1: rolling code yellows.

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Speaker 2: I think it's inevitable, Katie, because again, until we solve

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Speaker 2: the issue with the number of beds been occupied by individuals,

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Speaker 2: it would much be much be better cared for nursing homes.

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Speaker 2: The pressure is just constantly there as the point of

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Speaker 2: out nothing. You know, there's been additional precess that let

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Speaker 2: us the Greek hands in two thousy nineteen with the

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Speaker 2: COVID epidemic and now the increasing number of HVRE people

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Speaker 2: in beds. So what I described to the pressures I

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Speaker 2: described to Greek hand in twenty nineteen, I've got significantly

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Speaker 2: worse and they're not going away anytime soon.

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Speaker 1: Well, doctor Robert Parker, we always appreciate your time. I

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Speaker 1: know your pressed for time this morning, so thank you

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Speaker 1: very much for having a chat with us, and no

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Speaker 1: doubt we'll talk to you again soon.

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Speaker 2: Okay, I'm uf to a conference we're we're not going

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Speaker 2: to be discussing CAG.

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Speaker 3: Good good, Thank you, doctor Parker. We'll talk to you

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Speaker 3: again soon