Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've been contacted by a number of pregnant women in
recent weeks raising concerns about not being able to book
in for ultrasounds. Now here's an extract of an email
that I received from one mum. It says, as a
long standing resident of this region and a mother expecting
her third child, I'm appalled by the gross inadequacy of
(00:21):
qualified sonographers to conduct a routine twelve week ultrasound scan,
a standard procedure crucial for ensuring the well being of
both the unborn child and the expectant mother. It continues
by saying, it is simply unacceptable that a supposedly advanced
health care system cannot provide a fundamental service within a
(00:43):
reasonable time frame. After being referred for my ultrasound over
six weeks ago, I contacted I met at the Darwin
Hospital private hospital, only to be told that they're unable
to accommodate my appointment due to a lack of adequately
qualified staff. Their proposed solution a spot on a vague
(01:03):
waiting list with no guarantee of being seen within the
medically recommended window, So this mum says, my subsequent attempts
to secure an appointment at other radiology clinics in Darwin
were equally ineffective, as each one shamelessly redirected me back
to either I Meet or Catherine. Is this the extent
(01:24):
of the medical key that we expect in our city?
A perpetual cycle of incompetence? It continues by saying, it
does seem pretty unbelievable that mums are not able to
book for these scans. Some are even driving to Catherine
in order to well to have these standard procedures crucial
for ensuring the well being of both the unborn child
(01:45):
and the expectant mother. Now I, as I said, I've
been contacted by a number of mums about this and
joining me on the line right now is another Darwin
based expectant mum. Good morning to you, Maddie.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Hello, how are you really good?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Maddie? Thank you so much for your time. Now, you're
pregnant right now? Is your first baby, aren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I am. I'm very excited and fit surreal hearing you
say that.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Actually, how far along are you?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We're sixteen weeks now.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Now have you been able to book in for your scans?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We got in for a dating scan. We had to
wait a little bit for that. And we actually just
drove to Catherine last week to get our twelve week scan.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So you actually had to make that drive to Catherine
to get in for the scan.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, So what were you told when you were trying
to book in locally?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Thankfully I have people that work in these clinics and
areas and had been telling me since I felt pregnant,
you need to book in now, and I just thought,
you know, territory time, Sure, it'll be one or two weeks.
And when the time came with my GP to refer
us for the twelve week scan, I went and went
(03:10):
to the referred place and they said, yeah, great, so
you'll be about six between seventeen, sixteen or eighteen weeks.
And I went back to my GP and said there
has to be another option. And my GP said to me,
there's two private practices in Darwin, and right now there's
too many pregnant people outweighing the services provided. Wow, it
(03:34):
was pretty overwhelming, and obviously, being a first time mum,
I said, put me on a wait list for sure,
I'll sit by the phone and wait for this phone call.
And to this day, I'm still waiting for that phone
call to happen. But thankfully a friend of mine is
in the same situation and she got referred to Katherine
(03:55):
and I said to her, I said, that's crazy, isn't it.
I'm doing that And I said, and she said, yeah,
I'm doing it. I've got a time frame I need
to meet it. Yeah, I'm doing it. And then I
stewed on it for two days and said to my partner,
are we being silly by doing this? And he goes,
let's just do it. We've got to do what we've
got to do. So I called up Catherine and they said, sure,
(04:16):
what time do you want to come in today? And
I said, padn today, like today, So I'm done and
I can't make it. So we booked it a week
a week later so we have time to get ready
to go down. And yeah, it was great.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I mean, Maddie. The thing is, though, these scans, like,
they're not just scans to you know, to check out
sort of you know, to kind of set your own
mind to ease, which actually is very important. I will
say the well being of my me and dad is
incredibly important. But these scans are also booked in to
check on the development of the baby growing inside. Of you,
(04:55):
and they are incredibly important to make sure that that
development is going in the way that.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
It's be that's right, absolutely, and you know with the
new col you've only got that time, certain time frame
to ensure that you get that done, and unfortunately we
missed that period to get that done. But thankfully, you know,
there's another test involved now that the blood tests an
ipp which you can do. But you know we would
(05:22):
have if that wasn't available to us, we wouldn't have
been able to find out.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, oh look, I've got mums messaging me right now saying,
you know, this is frightening, this is a frightening situation
and it is and it's you know, it is something
that you would think in a place like Darwin. We
are the capital city of the Northern Territory and of
the North you would think that, you know, you would
be able to get these procedures, well, these scans and
(05:48):
ultrasound done at the times that you actually need to.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
And you know, it's hard for us to get referred
for the test, especially then if you find out that
the test isn't even offered any more at certain clinics
because the senographers who are trained in this aren't there,
you know, exactly like that mum, that email of you. Yeah,
the phenographers, we don't have them, and they have to
(06:12):
be trained and qualified to do certain parts of these ultrasounds,
and we just don't have them. So it's quite concerning that.
You're right, we're in a capital city and we don't
have enough.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Maddie, just to really kind of lay it down bluntly,
for some of our listeners, you know, for some of them,
it might have been quite some time since they had
to go through this process. For others, they may not
be parents, you know, even for me, it's it's ten
years since I had my last child, you know, in
terms of those different timeframes when you're meant to have
(06:47):
the scan. So one at twelve weeks, one at twenty weeks,
how long were you being told that you would have
to wait to get your twenty week scan.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I'm still not sure on that one. I am still
in the dark about that one. So I'm hoping when
I go to the hospital next week for my appointments
they can give me a bit more insight on that one.
But yeah, my GP said, Okay, so here's your referral,
but here's your next referral as well for the next scan. Yep,
(07:22):
and I've lost weeks now, I am.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Just And so even with your twelve weeks acan, had
you not gone to Catherine, would you still be waiting
for it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, my appointments are still booked for next week and
the following week at this stage, and we're still you know,
thankfully I've canceled them to give them an opportunity for
Darwin women to have the chance to get seen. But yeah,
we would still be waiting.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Maddie. Can you tell me when you went to Catherine
to have your ultrasound then, were you told of other
women doing the same.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I was. Actually I knew four other women coming down
from Darwin on the same day for the appointment. And
when I went in and spoke to them, they were
so lovely and they said, oh, another one from Darwin.
You're not the first one. I said, I know, We've
just had a yarn in the hallway. So yeah, there
were four of us on that day that came of Darwin.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wow, Maddie, from what, like, you know, from the discussions
that you've had, you know, like in terms of trying
to book in and that kind of thing, what have
they Have they told you or given you any indication
as to why it is such a long period of
time over the actual dates when you're meant to have
those scans? Is it justice? Have they just literally said
(08:41):
to you it's because there's so many pregnant women.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, the practice itself can't tell us too much, but
we know and through friends of friends, you know people
in the system. Yeah, there's too many pregnant people that
can't they the system can't keep up. And again it
goes back to your qualified snographers. They have a certain
accreditation that they have to complete to be able to
(09:05):
do certain stages of ultrasounds of pregnancies. And I wasn't
aware of this until I became pregnant and started asking
the question and said, well, why do that just have
to be a normal genographer? And then I've soon learned
that they have to do special accreditation to keep their
qualifications to do different stages throughout the pregnancy. Well, now
(09:27):
when we lack it, and you know, we've got two
private practices and only one of these offer the new
cool test, well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It sounds as though there needs to be some work
in this space. We do need to make sure that
you know that expectant moms are able to get these
ultrasounds when they are supposed to have those ultrasounds, because
the last thing that anybody wants is to then get
to any of those scans and find out that there's
an issue and you know, not be able to sort
(09:57):
it out.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, Maddie, I really appreciate you speaking to us this
morning and making the Northern Territory aware of what's going on.
We're going to try and follow it up with the
Department of Health and see what we might be able
to find out, but also hopefully I'm hoping that we
can try and get this issue sorted in some way
or another.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Amazing that would be wonderful. Thank you for your work.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Thank you, Thanks Maddie,
We've been contacted by a number of pregnant women in
recent weeks raising concerns about not being able to book
in for ultrasounds. Now here's an extract of an email
that I received from one mum. It says, as a
long standing resident of this region and a mother expecting
her third child, I'm appalled by the gross inadequacy of
(00:21):
qualified sonographers to conduct a routine twelve week ultrasound scan,
a standard procedure crucial for ensuring the well being of
both the unborn child and the expectant mother. It continues
by saying, it is simply unacceptable that a supposedly advanced
health care system cannot provide a fundamental service within a
(00:43):
reasonable time frame. After being referred for my ultrasound over
six weeks ago, I contacted I met at the Darwin
Hospital private hospital, only to be told that they're unable
to accommodate my appointment due to a lack of adequately
qualified staff. Their proposed solution a spot on a vague
(01:03):
waiting list with no guarantee of being seen within the
medically recommended window, So this mum says, my subsequent attempts
to secure an appointment at other radiology clinics in Darwin
were equally ineffective, as each one shamelessly redirected me back
to either I Meet or Catherine. Is this the extent
(01:24):
of the medical key that we expect in our city?
A perpetual cycle of incompetence? It continues by saying, it
does seem pretty unbelievable that mums are not able to
book for these scans. Some are even driving to Catherine
in order to well to have these standard procedures crucial
for ensuring the well being of both the unborn child
(01:45):
and the expectant mother. Now I, as I said, I've
been contacted by a number of mums about this and
joining me on the line right now is another Darwin
based expectant mum. Good morning to you, Maddie.
Speaker 2 (02:00):
Hello, how are you really good?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Maddie? Thank you so much for your time. Now, you're
pregnant right now? Is your first baby, aren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:09):
I am. I'm very excited and fit surreal hearing you
say that.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Actually, how far along are you?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
We're sixteen weeks now.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Now have you been able to book in for your scans?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
We got in for a dating scan. We had to
wait a little bit for that. And we actually just
drove to Catherine last week to get our twelve week scan.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
So you actually had to make that drive to Catherine
to get in for the scan.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, So what were you told when you were trying
to book in locally?
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Thankfully I have people that work in these clinics and
areas and had been telling me since I felt pregnant,
you need to book in now, and I just thought,
you know, territory time, Sure, it'll be one or two weeks.
And when the time came with my GP to refer
us for the twelve week scan, I went and went
(03:10):
to the referred place and they said, yeah, great, so
you'll be about six between seventeen, sixteen or eighteen weeks.
And I went back to my GP and said there
has to be another option. And my GP said to me,
there's two private practices in Darwin, and right now there's
too many pregnant people outweighing the services provided. Wow, it
(03:34):
was pretty overwhelming, and obviously, being a first time mum,
I said, put me on a wait list for sure,
I'll sit by the phone and wait for this phone call.
And to this day, I'm still waiting for that phone
call to happen. But thankfully a friend of mine is
in the same situation and she got referred to Katherine
(03:55):
and I said to her, I said, that's crazy, isn't it.
I'm doing that And I said, and she said, yeah,
I'm doing it. I've got a time frame I need
to meet it. Yeah, I'm doing it. And then I
stewed on it for two days and said to my partner,
are we being silly by doing this? And he goes,
let's just do it. We've got to do what we've
got to do. So I called up Catherine and they said, sure,
(04:16):
what time do you want to come in today? And
I said, padn today, like today, So I'm done and
I can't make it. So we booked it a week
a week later so we have time to get ready
to go down. And yeah, it was great.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I mean, Maddie. The thing is, though, these scans, like,
they're not just scans to you know, to check out
sort of you know, to kind of set your own
mind to ease, which actually is very important. I will
say the well being of my me and dad is
incredibly important. But these scans are also booked in to
check on the development of the baby growing inside. Of you,
(04:55):
and they are incredibly important to make sure that that
development is going in the way that.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
It's be that's right, absolutely, and you know with the
new col you've only got that time, certain time frame
to ensure that you get that done, and unfortunately we
missed that period to get that done. But thankfully, you know,
there's another test involved now that the blood tests an
ipp which you can do. But you know we would
(05:22):
have if that wasn't available to us, we wouldn't have
been able to find out.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, oh look, I've got mums messaging me right now saying,
you know, this is frightening, this is a frightening situation
and it is and it's you know, it is something
that you would think in a place like Darwin. We
are the capital city of the Northern Territory and of
the North you would think that, you know, you would
be able to get these procedures, well, these scans and
(05:48):
ultrasound done at the times that you actually need to.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
And you know, it's hard for us to get referred
for the test, especially then if you find out that
the test isn't even offered any more at certain clinics
because the senographers who are trained in this aren't there,
you know, exactly like that mum, that email of you. Yeah,
the phenographers, we don't have them, and they have to
(06:12):
be trained and qualified to do certain parts of these ultrasounds,
and we just don't have them. So it's quite concerning that.
You're right, we're in a capital city and we don't
have enough.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
Maddie, just to really kind of lay it down bluntly,
for some of our listeners, you know, for some of them,
it might have been quite some time since they had
to go through this process. For others, they may not
be parents, you know, even for me, it's it's ten
years since I had my last child, you know, in
terms of those different timeframes when you're meant to have
(06:47):
the scan. So one at twelve weeks, one at twenty weeks,
how long were you being told that you would have
to wait to get your twenty week scan.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I'm still not sure on that one. I am still
in the dark about that one. So I'm hoping when
I go to the hospital next week for my appointments
they can give me a bit more insight on that one.
But yeah, my GP said, Okay, so here's your referral,
but here's your next referral as well for the next scan. Yep,
(07:22):
and I've lost weeks now, I am.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Just And so even with your twelve weeks acan, had
you not gone to Catherine, would you still be waiting
for it? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, my appointments are still booked for next week and
the following week at this stage, and we're still you know,
thankfully I've canceled them to give them an opportunity for
Darwin women to have the chance to get seen. But yeah,
we would still be waiting.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Maddie. Can you tell me when you went to Catherine
to have your ultrasound then, were you told of other
women doing the same.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I was. Actually I knew four other women coming down
from Darwin on the same day for the appointment. And
when I went in and spoke to them, they were
so lovely and they said, oh, another one from Darwin.
You're not the first one. I said, I know, We've
just had a yarn in the hallway. So yeah, there
were four of us on that day that came of Darwin.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Wow, Maddie, from what, like, you know, from the discussions
that you've had, you know, like in terms of trying
to book in and that kind of thing, what have
they Have they told you or given you any indication
as to why it is such a long period of
time over the actual dates when you're meant to have
those scans? Is it justice? Have they just literally said
(08:41):
to you it's because there's so many pregnant women.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, the practice itself can't tell us too much, but
we know and through friends of friends, you know people
in the system. Yeah, there's too many pregnant people that
can't they the system can't keep up. And again it
goes back to your qualified snographers. They have a certain
accreditation that they have to complete to be able to
(09:05):
do certain stages of ultrasounds of pregnancies. And I wasn't
aware of this until I became pregnant and started asking
the question and said, well, why do that just have
to be a normal genographer? And then I've soon learned
that they have to do special accreditation to keep their
qualifications to do different stages throughout the pregnancy. Well, now
(09:27):
when we lack it, and you know, we've got two
private practices and only one of these offer the new
cool test, well, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
It sounds as though there needs to be some work
in this space. We do need to make sure that
you know that expectant moms are able to get these
ultrasounds when they are supposed to have those ultrasounds, because
the last thing that anybody wants is to then get
to any of those scans and find out that there's
an issue and you know, not be able to sort
(09:57):
it out.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah, Maddie, I really appreciate you speaking to us this
morning and making the Northern Territory aware of what's going on.
We're going to try and follow it up with the
Department of Health and see what we might be able
to find out, but also hopefully I'm hoping that we
can try and get this issue sorted in some way
or another.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Amazing that would be wonderful. Thank you for your work.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
Thank you, Thanks Maddie,
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