Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now a shortage of beds is again causing disruptions for
staff at top end hospitals, with another Code yellow declared
for the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals. Nt Health confirming
yesterday that a code yellow had been issued for the
two hospitals well on Tuesday, in fact, due to a
peak in hospital demand and high occupancy rates. It is,
(00:21):
as we understand it, the fifth for this year. Elective
surgeries have not been deferred this time round. But joining
me on the line to talk more about the situation
is doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the
Australian Medical Association here in the Northern Territory. Good morning,
doctor Parker, Morning Katie. What is causing the latest code yellow?
(00:41):
From your perspective, Well.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Again, coming back to the old chestnut, the letter I
think the Greek hunt in twenty nineteen point of our
church hospitals will us use in Australia And I understand
there's been just a gradual increase in people who are
basically there care and nursing homes, occupying hospital beds while
they wait for those nursing homes. So unfortunately these people
(01:06):
are very disabled. There's nowhere else for them to be
treated until the nursing home bet becomes available, and more
and more beds are being occupied by these individuals, which
means that when you get a spike in a problem
such as an indexts disease or a mental health issue
or increasing for some reason and surgical stuff, you've got
(01:26):
no other beds to use, so the hospital's got to
go through a code yellow, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
What are doctors telling you within the hospital right now?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Like, how great is the stress on them?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, I've been I've been an ed regularly cadious part
of a normal work and people are double bunk which
is obviously not of an ideal situation. We have to
share your bay with somebody else, and you know, there
is really very little privacy involved in that situation. And
I mean again, I pay tribute to the great heroes
in the hospital, doctors, nurses, ots, physios, cleaners, kitchen stuff,
(02:01):
all of who make the process work.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
They truly do and as you said, they are the
heroes of the hospital. They're out there working their butts
off to make sure that people are still treated, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
In terms of those.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, the issue and what is causing this strain
on the hospital. So it's it is you know the
fact that we've got patients who really do need a
space in aged care.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
From your perspective, that's correct, you.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Know, and you know ideally it's not good for these
people obviously being in a busy hospital ward when you're
old and sick and you it's much more dignified and
comfortable to be in an agecare bed, you know, which
is much more appropriate to your needs. And of course
the increased risk for these individuals to pick up hospital
acquiet infection just because they is so there's more risk
for these individuals being in hospital than being in an
(02:48):
agecare bed. But unfortunately, you know, because of the I
suppose the delay and I mean again the points back
to both sides of government over a number of years
off a particular fold of one side of government. But
you know, the lack of agecare beds and the territory
is becoming more and more apparent, and this is a
major pressure now in the hospital system.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
It truly is.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It's something that we get contacted about very regularly.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
We had some really sad situations the last time that
there was a code yellow where people were sending me
extensive emails saying Katie, you know our family can't cope
with our with our loved one who is old and
has dementia, you know, who's not able to get a
space in the hospital. It's an enormous strain on families
and I just don't know where we sort of go
(03:33):
from here, Dr Parker, while we wait.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Unfortunately, there's not much we can do, Katie until these
beds are building staffs. And when I was getting back
to VET was sort of interesting. I think that I
was talking about BET training, BET trainings for the agecre mob,
not for medical stuff, but the Channel nine inter evident,
but the yeah we need it's not just having a
big author and its staff who who can appropriately care individuals.
(04:01):
I mean, the recent Royal Commission made that very obvious,
but there was a sergnificant problem with care even in
existing beds. So you know, it's a massive investment required
both in terms of bricks and mortar, but also in
staff training to make sure that people who are very
disabled as described by this family are comfortably in be
cared for in a dignified manner.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
How many beds do you reckon? We need?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Like, how many beds short are when it comes to
age care, Well, I.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Think the hospital I mean in forum sources, well, I
think we need probably at least another hundred that hdre
beds pretty much. You know, if we could imagine wave
a magic wand and get the business start, one hundred
would probably help, I think.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And we're to have we do to have about sixty
come online. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, I think they're working towards that. We've got the
new we've got the war which I think is going
to have thirty extra beds, and of course, while we've
got the bricks and mortar, we've got no guarantee of
the ongoing costs. And I think I said before my
understanding that you know, a one bed in a hospital
cost about a million dollars a year in terms of
the staffing to make it work. So you know, while
(05:07):
we've got the promise of bricks and mortar in twenty
twenty five, we've got no promise of the funding required
for the staffing. But yeah, certainly I understand this possibly
an agreement about sixty hpre business. I'll sure where they're
going to be. But again I haven't seen the definite
announcements about bricks and mortar and the establishment where they're
(05:28):
going to be and who's going to build them.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And whatever, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
We have had people raise concerns with us as well
over the last couple of weeks about I think it's
called ramping of the ambulances where they are parked outside
while they wait for there, you know, to be a
space or for them to be able to bring patients
in to the ED.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Are you being told about that?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, m Katie, I'm a regular visitor are in terms
of my clinical work, I'm very aware of ramping and
purring and other jurisdiction such as South Australia And I
was in the meeting of AMA presidents last night and
the Soustralian president is very concerned about ramping in his
state and the issues with that. But what I've seen
(06:10):
in med is that there's very very little ramping in
the territory patients. I've never seen patients just sitting out.
I've seen patients given appropriate care as soon as they arrive.
So you know, touchwood working yourself on the head. I
don't think there's actually a major drama with ramping in
the territory currently.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
That is good to hear. Dr Parker, have we got
enough staff? I mean, is that what it also comes
down to. I know you said we need those beds,
but as you've also touched on, we've got to make
sure we've got the staff to be able to care
for people in those beds.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, there's always been particular issues with staffing in the territory.
I mean, the territory has just generally got a much
younger population, and we've often had significant sort of shifts
of stuff. So young people come up here as part
of life's adventure to do stuff, and they stay for
a while and move on to get the mortgage on
the part of down out, So we haven't got that
(07:01):
sort of staffing reserve that's usually there with older people
who who've had the mortgage in the family and are
still working. It isn't the territory, but it's less than it.
There's the Southern States. So we've always had issues with
significant shortages of staff in particular periods when people decide
to move, you know, like Christmas time. It's always very
difficult to find staff at Christmas time because people are
(07:23):
leaving and whatever. So yeah, it is a significant issue,
and I know it's a major and Zerms for Territory
Health to try and stabilize staffing.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Do you think that we are going to just have
a situation in the territory until we have some additional
age care beads, that we are going to be in
a situation in the territory where we do have these
rolling code yellows.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think it's inevitable, Katie, because again, until we solve
the issue with the number of beds been occupied by individuals,
it would much be much be better cared for nursing homes.
The pressure is just constantly there as the point of
out nothing. You know, there's been additional precess that let
us the Greek hands in two thousy nineteen with the
COVID epidemic and now the increasing number of HVRE people
in beds. So what I described to the pressures I
(08:09):
described to Greek hand in twenty nineteen, I've got significantly
worse and they're not going away anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, doctor Robert Parker, we always appreciate your time. I
know your pressed for time this morning, so thank you
very much for having a chat with us, and no
doubt we'll talk to you again soon.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Okay, I'm uf to a conference we're we're not going
to be discussing CAG.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Good good, Thank you, doctor Parker. We'll talk to you
again soon
Now a shortage of beds is again causing disruptions for
staff at top end hospitals, with another Code yellow declared
for the Royal Darwin and Palmerston Hospitals. Nt Health confirming
yesterday that a code yellow had been issued for the
two hospitals well on Tuesday, in fact, due to a
peak in hospital demand and high occupancy rates. It is,
(00:21):
as we understand it, the fifth for this year. Elective
surgeries have not been deferred this time round. But joining
me on the line to talk more about the situation
is doctor Robert Parker, who is the head of the
Australian Medical Association here in the Northern Territory. Good morning,
doctor Parker, Morning Katie. What is causing the latest code yellow?
(00:41):
From your perspective, Well.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Again, coming back to the old chestnut, the letter I
think the Greek hunt in twenty nineteen point of our
church hospitals will us use in Australia And I understand
there's been just a gradual increase in people who are
basically there care and nursing homes, occupying hospital beds while
they wait for those nursing homes. So unfortunately these people
(01:06):
are very disabled. There's nowhere else for them to be
treated until the nursing home bet becomes available, and more
and more beds are being occupied by these individuals, which
means that when you get a spike in a problem
such as an indexts disease or a mental health issue
or increasing for some reason and surgical stuff, you've got
(01:26):
no other beds to use, so the hospital's got to
go through a code yellow, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
What are doctors telling you within the hospital right now?
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Like, how great is the stress on them?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Well, I've been I've been an ed regularly cadious part
of a normal work and people are double bunk which
is obviously not of an ideal situation. We have to
share your bay with somebody else, and you know, there
is really very little privacy involved in that situation. And
I mean again, I pay tribute to the great heroes
in the hospital, doctors, nurses, ots, physios, cleaners, kitchen stuff,
(02:01):
all of who make the process work.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
They truly do and as you said, they are the
heroes of the hospital. They're out there working their butts
off to make sure that people are still treated, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
In terms of those.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You know, the issue and what is causing this strain
on the hospital. So it's it is you know the
fact that we've got patients who really do need a
space in aged care.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
From your perspective, that's correct, you.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Know, and you know ideally it's not good for these
people obviously being in a busy hospital ward when you're
old and sick and you it's much more dignified and
comfortable to be in an agecare bed, you know, which
is much more appropriate to your needs. And of course
the increased risk for these individuals to pick up hospital
acquiet infection just because they is so there's more risk
for these individuals being in hospital than being in an
(02:48):
agecare bed. But unfortunately, you know, because of the I
suppose the delay and I mean again the points back
to both sides of government over a number of years
off a particular fold of one side of government. But
you know, the lack of agecare beds and the territory
is becoming more and more apparent, and this is a
major pressure now in the hospital system.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
It truly is.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
It's something that we get contacted about very regularly.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
We had some really sad situations the last time that
there was a code yellow where people were sending me
extensive emails saying Katie, you know our family can't cope
with our with our loved one who is old and
has dementia, you know, who's not able to get a
space in the hospital. It's an enormous strain on families
and I just don't know where we sort of go
(03:33):
from here, Dr Parker, while we wait.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Unfortunately, there's not much we can do, Katie until these
beds are building staffs. And when I was getting back
to VET was sort of interesting. I think that I
was talking about BET training, BET trainings for the agecre mob,
not for medical stuff, but the Channel nine inter evident,
but the yeah we need it's not just having a
big author and its staff who who can appropriately care individuals.
(04:01):
I mean, the recent Royal Commission made that very obvious,
but there was a sergnificant problem with care even in
existing beds. So you know, it's a massive investment required
both in terms of bricks and mortar, but also in
staff training to make sure that people who are very
disabled as described by this family are comfortably in be
cared for in a dignified manner.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
How many beds do you reckon? We need?
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Like, how many beds short are when it comes to
age care, Well, I.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
Think the hospital I mean in forum sources, well, I
think we need probably at least another hundred that hdre
beds pretty much. You know, if we could imagine wave
a magic wand and get the business start, one hundred
would probably help, I think.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
And we're to have we do to have about sixty
come online. Is that correct?
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, I think they're working towards that. We've got the
new we've got the war which I think is going
to have thirty extra beds, and of course, while we've
got the bricks and mortar, we've got no guarantee of
the ongoing costs. And I think I said before my
understanding that you know, a one bed in a hospital
cost about a million dollars a year in terms of
the staffing to make it work. So you know, while
(05:07):
we've got the promise of bricks and mortar in twenty
twenty five, we've got no promise of the funding required
for the staffing. But yeah, certainly I understand this possibly
an agreement about sixty hpre business. I'll sure where they're
going to be. But again I haven't seen the definite
announcements about bricks and mortar and the establishment where they're
(05:28):
going to be and who's going to build them.
Speaker 3 (05:29):
And whatever, Doctor Parker.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
We have had people raise concerns with us as well
over the last couple of weeks about I think it's
called ramping of the ambulances where they are parked outside
while they wait for there, you know, to be a
space or for them to be able to bring patients
in to the ED.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Are you being told about that?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Well, m Katie, I'm a regular visitor are in terms
of my clinical work, I'm very aware of ramping and
purring and other jurisdiction such as South Australia And I
was in the meeting of AMA presidents last night and
the Soustralian president is very concerned about ramping in his
state and the issues with that. But what I've seen
(06:10):
in med is that there's very very little ramping in
the territory patients. I've never seen patients just sitting out.
I've seen patients given appropriate care as soon as they arrive.
So you know, touchwood working yourself on the head. I
don't think there's actually a major drama with ramping in
the territory currently.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
That is good to hear. Dr Parker, have we got
enough staff? I mean, is that what it also comes
down to. I know you said we need those beds,
but as you've also touched on, we've got to make
sure we've got the staff to be able to care
for people in those beds.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, there's always been particular issues with staffing in the territory.
I mean, the territory has just generally got a much
younger population, and we've often had significant sort of shifts
of stuff. So young people come up here as part
of life's adventure to do stuff, and they stay for
a while and move on to get the mortgage on
the part of down out, So we haven't got that
(07:01):
sort of staffing reserve that's usually there with older people
who who've had the mortgage in the family and are
still working. It isn't the territory, but it's less than it.
There's the Southern States. So we've always had issues with
significant shortages of staff in particular periods when people decide
to move, you know, like Christmas time. It's always very
difficult to find staff at Christmas time because people are
(07:23):
leaving and whatever. So yeah, it is a significant issue,
and I know it's a major and Zerms for Territory
Health to try and stabilize staffing.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Do you think that we are going to just have
a situation in the territory until we have some additional
age care beads, that we are going to be in
a situation in the territory where we do have these
rolling code yellows.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think it's inevitable, Katie, because again, until we solve
the issue with the number of beds been occupied by individuals,
it would much be much be better cared for nursing homes.
The pressure is just constantly there as the point of
out nothing. You know, there's been additional precess that let
us the Greek hands in two thousy nineteen with the
COVID epidemic and now the increasing number of HVRE people
in beds. So what I described to the pressures I
(08:09):
described to Greek hand in twenty nineteen, I've got significantly
worse and they're not going away anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Well, doctor Robert Parker, we always appreciate your time. I
know your pressed for time this morning, so thank you
very much for having a chat with us, and no
doubt we'll talk to you again soon.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Okay, I'm uf to a conference we're we're not going
to be discussing CAG.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Good good, Thank you, doctor Parker. We'll talk to you
again soon
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