Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yesterday we spoke to territory women who are seriously concerned
about the ending of private maternity services at the Darwin Hospital.
The Darwin Private Hospital now the hospital announced the closure
of its maternity ward by June sixth this year. The
organizers of a petition opposing the closure say that the decision,
which was made by the private operator health Scope, is
(00:22):
going to leave expectant mothers and families across the Northern
Territory without a choice of how they.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Can access maternity care.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now, they say it's more than a health care shift,
it is a blow to women's rights, family planning and
the future of Darwin as a liveable city. The Health Minister,
Steve Edgington joins me in the studio. Good morning to
your minister.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to all the listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Good to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know we've got so many questions from Northern Territory women.
So first off I'll ask these services at Darwin Private
Hospital they're set to end in June. Where are things
at with the planning for that change?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Katie, there's a look. Firstly, I want to reassure all
expectant mothers that there's been a huge amount of work
going on through nt Health, and what I want to
reassure all expectant mothers and families is that these packages
that I've spoken previously about, the luxury post natal maternity
retreat in a Dale and boutique hotel, but also the
(01:21):
returning home to Returning Home Sooner package, all of those
are ready to be confirmed. And when I say ready
to be confirmed, what I'm getting at is that nt
health has had ongoing conversations with the health insurers. So
when we talk about them, Medibank, Booper, the Australian Health
Service Alliance have already reassured nt Health that these packages
(01:45):
are ensurable.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So Minister, which hotel is it going to be? Where
are women going to be able to stay?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I can't announce that to you yet, but the
conversations that I've had with nt Health, my understanding and
talking about this is that we should be in a
position by next week to announce where this hotel will be.
There's been a lot of procurement processes going on in
the background. These are the things that are commercially in
confidence until we can announce them.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So the conversation is definitely still happening.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Now, in terms of the twenty four to seven maternity support,
whether women are going to this post natal maternity retreat
or whether they're going home, what exactly is that going
to entail.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
So that will entail having the option. Now, let's make
it clear that women aren't being sent off to this retreat.
They'll need to stay in hospital if there's medical concerns
about the mother or the baby. So moving somebody to
or giving the option of a private health the patient
(02:49):
going to this facility, that's a choice for that mother.
So that will involve twenty four hour services in twenty
four to seven.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Is it going to be a nurse able to care like,
able to check on those women twenty four to seven,
or is it going to be over a phone line?
What's it going to look like?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
What it will involve is a planned, scheduled visits by
the midwife. And as we move forward, what we're hoping
to have in place is a private arrangement where we
can have midwives through a private arrangement, ensurable process where
midwives can go and attend that hospital. But in the meantime,
we already have a domicillary care midwives that go to
(03:30):
homes every day of the week, So that will continue what.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Happens for those women if something happens outside of those
planned scheduled visits. Because what they were saying yesterday on
the show, and what they've raised with me, is that
is there a twenty four to seven phone line that
they can call, Is there somebody that's going to be
available should an emergency arise. All of those things that
you would usually have if you were at a hospital,
(03:54):
or if you were staying at the private hospital for
seven days post birth.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
All of those are available. There will certainly be phone
contact with a midwife. We have midwife on twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
That's a definite.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
That's a definite. They'll be able to contact a midwife
and have that conversation with a midwife. What we will
have is planned visits to visit the mother and baby
in that private luxury retreat.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Now, one of our one of the expectant mums, got
in contact with us yesterday and said, Katie, I am
being told that if there is a visit required outside
of the planned visits, or if there is assistance required
outside of those planned visits, then I'm either going to
have to contact my GP or I am going to
have to present to the emergency ward at the hospital.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Is that correct.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
There's a whole range of options of ailable and that's
the twenty four to seven contact with a midwife. There
will be patients that have ongoing contact with their GP
or their obstetrician if there was an emergency, and this
could happen anywhere, not just in a private luxury retreat.
Of course, Saint John's are available twenty four to seven.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So that's a very different scenario to what women going
through the private system would be receiving at the moment.
So if you're in that private system, the majority of
people I know that have had their bubs there, you'll
be in hospital for seven days afterwards, maybe a little
bit less if everything's good and you're able to leave sooner.
Maybe a little bit longer if you've had to have
(05:26):
an emergency cesarean, or if you've wound up with preer
clampsy or some other condition that may I mean, preer
clamsy is obviously pre but if you wind up with
another condition, that means that you're going to need care
for longer. Now I get what you're saying that they're
going to be able to say, stay in the public
hospital for longer if required. But what happens for those
(05:47):
women that maybe choose to go to the post nadal
maternity retreat and then something does happen while they're in there.
They can obviously call that twenty four hour service, but
is somebody going to be able to come out to
them if that's what's needed.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
The midwife, As I said, we already have the domicillary
care midwives in play now. They visit homes on a
regular basis to work with families, work with mothers and
the baby, so that service will continue.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And if an emergency arises.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
If an emergency arises, like any emergency, that midwife will
make the decisions that are needed in consultation with the mother.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
All right, Minister, I want to take you through a
couple of calls that we had yesterday from two expectant mums.
First off, let's take a listen to what Jess had
to say on the showing.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
About the unsafe birth happening at the public hospital. I
think the biggest concern is that we've got anti government
saying that everything's safe, everything's fine, nothing to see here,
and yet we're still hearing about these things and it
isn't just about the birth. It's about women not being
able to receive any kind of care in the lead
up to their births as well.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So that is Jess on the show yesterday.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I want to ask you, are there women that are
giving birth in the halls currently at Royal Darwin Hospital.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Certainly not, and I want to reassure listeners that mothers
aren't giving birth in the corridors of the Royal Darwen Hospital.
What we have is around about seventy midwives and thirteen
obstetricians working through not only in the maternity ward, but
there's other support staff there as well. We do know
that mothers will arrive at the hospital at various stages
(07:34):
of labor, but.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So there might be women laboring in the halls.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
There's no doubt that that's a strong possibility. Women arrive
at the hospital at various stages in labor. What I
can reassure from the information that I have is that
no babies have been born in the corridor of the
Royal Darwen Hospital.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Minister, are we in a situation where we're going to
have enough staff at Darwin Private Hospital to deal with
the increase that we are expecting as a result of
women no longer being able to give birth at the
private hospital.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Look, the information we have. The information that I have
is that we've red about two thousand babies a year
are born at the Royal Daren Hospital leading up to
the closure of the private private hospital here in Darwen.
What we've been told is that there's around about two
hundred and fifty babies born every year in the private hospital.
(08:28):
The increase for the Royal Daren Hospital can be absorbed.
We're talking about a ten to fifteen percent increase in
the number of babies being born in Darwen. I've been
reassured that the system can cope with a ten to
fifteen percent increase and in fact, what it's actually taking
back to is pre COVID. These are the numbers that
we're actually dealing with through the RULD.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
We spoke to Cath Hatcher yesterday from the Nursing and
Midway for re Union. She says that there is going
to be additional staff required. She said that it is
obviously going to mean, you know, like that it is
additional work for the nurses and midwives.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
At the Royal dah And Hospital.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
So is there going to be any additional funding for
Royal dah And Hospital to cope with that.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
What we're working through at the moment is if we
look at the staffing issues first. As I said, we've
got around about seventy midwives working at the Royal daal
In Hospital. Are there enough staff across the board? What
we do know is that there's a shortage of midwives
and nurses right across not only Australia but globally, so
there's always that case where there may be a shortage
(09:31):
of staff. What we're constantly doing is recruiting to those
positions and we are offering opportunities for midwives currently working
through the daal And private hospital to come over to
the public hospital. So those conversations are ongoing and those
opportunities will arise.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
All right, Minister, I want to take you to a
call that we received yesterday from Tessa, another expectant mum.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Take a listen to what she had to say.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I'm going to be a guinea pigs for the new
proposed private packages and from the information I have from
Nteer Health, a lot of what they have been talking
about is not going to be in place for June.
They're still obviously working through a lot of that, trying
to get resources and sort of to hear over the
last few days that the opportunity has been there for
the government to approach the federal government for some additional
(10:16):
funding and they haven't taken that up. I mean, this
issue was alive well before the federal government went into
caretaker mode. So when the minister says we've approached them now,
but we couldn't because it was in caretakeo mode. The
announcement was made in February, the Health Department and the
Minister have known that this is coming since September last year.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Minister, what do you say to.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That, Well, there's been on look, there's been ongoing conversations Codie.
So having written to the Federal minister, let me just
go back a step. There has been ongoing conversations between
Northern Territory Health and the Federal Health Department. Those conversations
have been specifically around how can we improve the infrastructure
(10:56):
at the Darwin Darwin Hospital. Conversations have been going on
well before the election. In fact, those conversations started back
in February. There has been a submission sent to the
Federal Department of Health back in March, so all of that.
One of those one of those submissions involves a proposal
for thirty five million dollars to perform substantial upgrades to
(11:20):
ensure a co location of services and to improve the
overall makeup of the maternity ward at the Royal Dalen Hospital.
There has been a second option of ten million dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
But the real second option entail well, the.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Second option is a smaller one, but that would only
allow for minor new works to maximize patient flow, upgraded furniture,
and some more aesthetics type of improvement. So the thirty
five million dollars is what we've proposed to the Federal Department.
That proposal was made back in March.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Look, why, I mean, you've known about this since the
end of last year, haven't you, So why only that
proposal in March.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
So let's if we just take a step back. Last
year we were told of the possibility that the maternity
ward would close at the Darwen.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Privacy, So why not at that point start going, okay,
we need to prepare here.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
We weren't given a date last year. We got a
date to earlier this year, and I think the first
date was a closure around April that's now been extended
to Dune the sixth. We do know that those services
will come to an end, So what we have done
is had those ongoing conversations with the Federal Department, which
were still.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Nowhere and it's closing June sixth.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
We're talking about infrastructure upgrades. Infrastructure upgrades aren't going to
happen overnight. What we have been doing in the meantime
is ensuring that we've been working with the private insurers
to make sure that the services are ane.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I actually think.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're talking about certainty for territory women, and we're talking
about certainty for women.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Who are really very worried.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
That come June that you know that they're these what
you're proposing may not actually be in place. Can you guarantee, Tessa,
for example, that these services are going to be in
place come June, and that you might have a longer
term plan, but right now they are going to receive
the care that they that's require.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's what I've previously said, Katie, is that we've spoken
to the private healthcare insurers. They've confirmed that those packages
are insurable. What I've said is that we will have
an announcement next week on where that private to private
hotel facility will.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Be in terms of the thirty five million dollars that
then has been requested. I mean, is there capacity here
for you know, for the Department of Health to potentially
take over the ward that was previously being utilized at
the private hospital, I mean the infrastructures there in place.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Is that a possibility?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Those options have been looked at by the department. We
don't own that building its own, I don't even know
who owns that building, but it's not by an ent health.
What we've looked at is all the options and the
best option that we've come up with at this point
is an additional thirty five million from the federal government
to assist with upgrading the maternity ward at the Royal Dalnhull.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So would that mean additional beds? What will it mean
if you're able to get that.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
What it would create is additional facilities to address the
most complex neonatal cases, even to assist with the brief parents.
So there's a whole range of upgrades that are needed.
It'd be better access to clinical management, but it would
also give us larger rooms, more rooms and have the
ability to extend those maternity services further than what we
(14:37):
have at the moment.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
All right, Minister.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I had planned to ask you about mental health and
also about acacia, but we are being slammed by expectant
mums sending messages through, so I might get through a
couple of those. If that's okay. I've got one here
that says good morning, Katie. Can you please ask the
minister what arrangements are in place for mums who have
a C section. Given they're going to likely have to
remain in hospital for a few days. Their birth experience
(15:00):
therefore is going to be a public one. It sounds
like they're just offering a hotel stay for after care,
which can't see many people, which I can't see many
people actually wanting to take up.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Says that text.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
When it comes to sea sections, that these are things
that I don't have the technical or the medical experience
to talk about. But what I can say is at
sea sections, as I said, we have over two thousand
babies born at the Royal dah And Hospital every year.
We have the expertise through midwives and obstetricians that deal
with these things on a daily basis. If somebody goes
(15:35):
in and has a sea section, they'll be provided with
the care and support to manage that term.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Look, I can say I had both my children via
the CEA section at Royal Darwin Hospital and received exceptional care.
But I guess the question being asked by these mums
who are paying thousands of dollars in private healthcare is
where are they going to have a bed?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There are beds at the hospital that it's not an issue.
We've previously spoken about allegations that babies have been born
in the corridor. What I can assure people is it
the care, the service. The midwives and the obstetricians at
the hospital are doing an incredible job and those that
may go in for a C section, they'll get the
care and support that they need during.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That look and I would echo that I think the nurses,
the doctors, the midwives, everybody at the hospital does an
exceptional job. But the worry here is that as we're
going to see that increase, we are obviously going to
have women who may have a more complicated birth who
were expecting that they were going to be able to
(16:40):
go and have a private room somewhere else, or have
a private room at a hospital who are no longer
going to be able to do that, despite the fact
they're paying for it.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Look, Healthscope have decided to make a commercial decision to
withdraw their maternity services here in Darwin. As an anti
health and as the Minister and the NTI Health Department,
we've been working very closely with the insurers to make
sure that we have alternative packages available. It's as much
as we would like to, we didn't make this decision,
(17:11):
but what we are trying to do is make sure
that every parent, every family has a good birthing experience
at the Royal Darmen Hospital. We can't replicate what the
private provider was previously provoked.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Now look another one here, Hi, Katie. People talking about
the fast striking of jobs for the Darwin Private Hospital
midwives to Royal Darwin Hospital. But how come they still
haven't heard anything about this application and the four week
deadline is tomorrow. There's still left in the dark and
have no updates at all. We're three weeks away, says
(17:43):
that text.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
The advice I have is that those conversations are ongoing
and certainly if there's midwives at the private hospital, I
would encourage them to have those conversations with the public hospital.
But my understanding is that those conversations are ongoing and
there will be opportunities for any midwife that wants to
come over to the public system. Those opportunities will be
(18:06):
there for that person.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Minister another one here. I understand these packages are coming in,
but will they be in effect by the time the
closure happens. Yes, they most definitely will be.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yes, And as I said previously, I'm hoping to have
an announcement next week. I can confirm that the health
health ensurers, the healthcare providers have confirmed with nt Health
that these packages are ensurable. Next week we should have
further news on where that's luxury retret.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Now, if you have been in those discussions with the
federal government, why did Tasmania get the money and we
still haven't Well.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I'm not sure what Tasmania got there. I think it
was six million dollars. So what what we've been doing
is looking at what do we really need? Do we
need money to continue a service? What we're looking at
as an opportunity to to improve the experience from others
at the Royal day In Hospital that the proposal we've
(19:06):
put forward is for thirty five million dollars. You can't
put those proposals together overnight. There's been a lot of
work put in to assess what are the real needs
at the Royal day In Hospital. We've put that in writing.
There's been those discussions with the Federal Health Department. Now
that the caretaker period has finished and we have a
new federal government, I've now written to the minister and
hope did you drop the ball.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
There in terms of timing? Should you have done that sooner?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
No?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
No, there's been ongoing conversations with the departments. Certainly during
caretaker mode, which is what twenty eight days. You simply
can't have those conversations. The opportunity is now to confirm
the conversations that have been going on between Antihealth and
the Federal Department, and hopefully we'll hear from the Federal
minister very shortly.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Ministered, just really quickly before I let you go. In
this petition that Territory Families that these Territory Women and
Families have launched, they are asking for the government to
act now. They want to launch a central information hub
where people are able to get transparent, regularly updated online information.
They want you to host a public forum so that
(20:12):
you can explain to everybody exactly what's going on, and
they want you to commit to finding a long term solution.
Are you prepared to enact those requests?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
As I said previously, Katie, what I want to do
is reassure all of those expectant mothers that we have
created the website. There's a lot of information on that
website now that is being run by Into Health that
provides a whole range of updates and covers most of
the issues that I've just spoken about. So all of
that information is up on the website, that website.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Would you host a public forum with them?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I don't know how many there are altogether, but what
I'd like to do, and I've encouraged I reckon.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
We've got lots of a messaging this morning, Steve.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Look, look, I'm happy to meet with the mothers. Whether
that needs to be done through a public forum. I've
certainly encouraged any mother's concerned about what's happening to write
directly to me at Minister dot Edgington at NT dot gov.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
DoD Are you I used to go to I used
to go to a Tuesday early birds mother's group. I
think it was called I reckon we need a coffee
with the Health Minister soon to be Mother's group.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Much to do that.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Well, it might be.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Something that is worth doing because it does sound as
though these pregnant mums, mums that are wanting to have babies,
they've still got a lot of questions and they're really worried,
you know, they're concerned because the birth and journey that
they thought.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
They were going to be on has changed. Now.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I know that the staff at Royal Darwin Hospital do
an incredible job and nobody is disputing that, but there
are still so many mums that are feeling concerned. They're
feeling you know, anxious, they're feeling worried that they're going
to be guinea pigs as this transition changes over. So
it might be worth, you know, having a coffee with
(21:51):
this group of months.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
That's something that I'm happy to consider finding the time
to do that, but I know it's important and I
want to reassure all expectant mothers that we are taking
the action that we've said that we've been doing right.
As soon as we became aware of what's going on,
as soon as we had a closure date, we've been
working extremely hard to make sure that these packages are available.
All of that information is now up on the website
(22:15):
and what I'll be encouraging NTI Health to do is
to make contact with those mothers. And we need to
be careful because we can only contact the mothers that
Healthscope have been able to give information too, So I reckon.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
I be able to get a few of them auganize.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
For if mothers want to share their information, that's with
the private provider with nt Health more than happy to
speak to them.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Minister for Health Steve Edgington really appreciate your time. We'll
get you on another time to talk about the mental
health announcement and also Akasha, thank you, Thanks Katien.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
Good morning to everyone.
Yesterday we spoke to territory women who are seriously concerned
about the ending of private maternity services at the Darwin Hospital.
The Darwin Private Hospital now the hospital announced the closure
of its maternity ward by June sixth this year. The
organizers of a petition opposing the closure say that the decision,
which was made by the private operator health Scope, is
(00:22):
going to leave expectant mothers and families across the Northern
Territory without a choice of how they.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Can access maternity care.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now, they say it's more than a health care shift,
it is a blow to women's rights, family planning and
the future of Darwin as a liveable city. The Health Minister,
Steve Edgington joins me in the studio. Good morning to
your minister.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to all the listeners.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Good to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
I know we've got so many questions from Northern Territory women.
So first off I'll ask these services at Darwin Private
Hospital they're set to end in June. Where are things
at with the planning for that change?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Katie, there's a look. Firstly, I want to reassure all
expectant mothers that there's been a huge amount of work
going on through nt Health, and what I want to
reassure all expectant mothers and families is that these packages
that I've spoken previously about, the luxury post natal maternity
retreat in a Dale and boutique hotel, but also the
(01:21):
returning home to Returning Home Sooner package, all of those
are ready to be confirmed. And when I say ready
to be confirmed, what I'm getting at is that nt
health has had ongoing conversations with the health insurers. So
when we talk about them, Medibank, Booper, the Australian Health
Service Alliance have already reassured nt Health that these packages
(01:45):
are ensurable.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
So Minister, which hotel is it going to be? Where
are women going to be able to stay?
Speaker 3 (01:50):
Yeah, I can't announce that to you yet, but the
conversations that I've had with nt Health, my understanding and
talking about this is that we should be in a
position by next week to announce where this hotel will be.
There's been a lot of procurement processes going on in
the background. These are the things that are commercially in
confidence until we can announce them.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So the conversation is definitely still happening.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
Now, in terms of the twenty four to seven maternity support,
whether women are going to this post natal maternity retreat
or whether they're going home, what exactly is that going
to entail.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
So that will entail having the option. Now, let's make
it clear that women aren't being sent off to this retreat.
They'll need to stay in hospital if there's medical concerns
about the mother or the baby. So moving somebody to
or giving the option of a private health the patient
(02:49):
going to this facility, that's a choice for that mother.
So that will involve twenty four hour services in twenty
four to seven.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Is it going to be a nurse able to care like,
able to check on those women twenty four to seven,
or is it going to be over a phone line?
What's it going to look like?
Speaker 3 (03:09):
What it will involve is a planned, scheduled visits by
the midwife. And as we move forward, what we're hoping
to have in place is a private arrangement where we
can have midwives through a private arrangement, ensurable process where
midwives can go and attend that hospital. But in the meantime,
we already have a domicillary care midwives that go to
(03:30):
homes every day of the week, So that will continue what.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Happens for those women if something happens outside of those
planned scheduled visits. Because what they were saying yesterday on
the show, and what they've raised with me, is that
is there a twenty four to seven phone line that
they can call, Is there somebody that's going to be
available should an emergency arise. All of those things that
you would usually have if you were at a hospital,
(03:54):
or if you were staying at the private hospital for
seven days post birth.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
All of those are available. There will certainly be phone
contact with a midwife. We have midwife on twenty four
hours a day, seven days a week.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
That's a definite.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
That's a definite. They'll be able to contact a midwife
and have that conversation with a midwife. What we will
have is planned visits to visit the mother and baby
in that private luxury retreat.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Now, one of our one of the expectant mums, got
in contact with us yesterday and said, Katie, I am
being told that if there is a visit required outside
of the planned visits, or if there is assistance required
outside of those planned visits, then I'm either going to
have to contact my GP or I am going to
have to present to the emergency ward at the hospital.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Is that correct.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
There's a whole range of options of ailable and that's
the twenty four to seven contact with a midwife. There
will be patients that have ongoing contact with their GP
or their obstetrician if there was an emergency, and this
could happen anywhere, not just in a private luxury retreat.
Of course, Saint John's are available twenty four to seven.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
So that's a very different scenario to what women going
through the private system would be receiving at the moment.
So if you're in that private system, the majority of
people I know that have had their bubs there, you'll
be in hospital for seven days afterwards, maybe a little
bit less if everything's good and you're able to leave sooner.
Maybe a little bit longer if you've had to have
(05:26):
an emergency cesarean, or if you've wound up with preer
clampsy or some other condition that may I mean, preer
clamsy is obviously pre but if you wind up with
another condition, that means that you're going to need care
for longer. Now I get what you're saying that they're
going to be able to say, stay in the public
hospital for longer if required. But what happens for those
(05:47):
women that maybe choose to go to the post nadal
maternity retreat and then something does happen while they're in there.
They can obviously call that twenty four hour service, but
is somebody going to be able to come out to
them if that's what's needed.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
The midwife, As I said, we already have the domicillary
care midwives in play now. They visit homes on a
regular basis to work with families, work with mothers and
the baby, so that service will continue.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
And if an emergency arises.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
If an emergency arises, like any emergency, that midwife will
make the decisions that are needed in consultation with the mother.
Speaker 1 (06:27):
All right, Minister, I want to take you through a
couple of calls that we had yesterday from two expectant mums.
First off, let's take a listen to what Jess had
to say on the showing.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
About the unsafe birth happening at the public hospital. I
think the biggest concern is that we've got anti government
saying that everything's safe, everything's fine, nothing to see here,
and yet we're still hearing about these things and it
isn't just about the birth. It's about women not being
able to receive any kind of care in the lead
up to their births as well.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So that is Jess on the show yesterday.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
I want to ask you, are there women that are
giving birth in the halls currently at Royal Darwin Hospital.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Certainly not, and I want to reassure listeners that mothers
aren't giving birth in the corridors of the Royal Darwen Hospital.
What we have is around about seventy midwives and thirteen
obstetricians working through not only in the maternity ward, but
there's other support staff there as well. We do know
that mothers will arrive at the hospital at various stages
(07:34):
of labor, but.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
So there might be women laboring in the halls.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
There's no doubt that that's a strong possibility. Women arrive
at the hospital at various stages in labor. What I
can reassure from the information that I have is that
no babies have been born in the corridor of the
Royal Darwen Hospital.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Minister, are we in a situation where we're going to
have enough staff at Darwin Private Hospital to deal with
the increase that we are expecting as a result of
women no longer being able to give birth at the
private hospital.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Look, the information we have. The information that I have
is that we've red about two thousand babies a year
are born at the Royal Daren Hospital leading up to
the closure of the private private hospital here in Darwen.
What we've been told is that there's around about two
hundred and fifty babies born every year in the private hospital.
(08:28):
The increase for the Royal Daren Hospital can be absorbed.
We're talking about a ten to fifteen percent increase in
the number of babies being born in Darwen. I've been
reassured that the system can cope with a ten to
fifteen percent increase and in fact, what it's actually taking
back to is pre COVID. These are the numbers that
we're actually dealing with through the RULD.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
We spoke to Cath Hatcher yesterday from the Nursing and
Midway for re Union. She says that there is going
to be additional staff required. She said that it is
obviously going to mean, you know, like that it is
additional work for the nurses and midwives.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
At the Royal dah And Hospital.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
So is there going to be any additional funding for
Royal dah And Hospital to cope with that.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
What we're working through at the moment is if we
look at the staffing issues first. As I said, we've
got around about seventy midwives working at the Royal daal
In Hospital. Are there enough staff across the board? What
we do know is that there's a shortage of midwives
and nurses right across not only Australia but globally, so
there's always that case where there may be a shortage
(09:31):
of staff. What we're constantly doing is recruiting to those
positions and we are offering opportunities for midwives currently working
through the daal And private hospital to come over to
the public hospital. So those conversations are ongoing and those
opportunities will arise.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
All right, Minister, I want to take you to a
call that we received yesterday from Tessa, another expectant mum.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Take a listen to what she had to say.
Speaker 5 (09:54):
I'm going to be a guinea pigs for the new
proposed private packages and from the information I have from
Nteer Health, a lot of what they have been talking
about is not going to be in place for June.
They're still obviously working through a lot of that, trying
to get resources and sort of to hear over the
last few days that the opportunity has been there for
the government to approach the federal government for some additional
(10:16):
funding and they haven't taken that up. I mean, this
issue was alive well before the federal government went into
caretaker mode. So when the minister says we've approached them now,
but we couldn't because it was in caretakeo mode. The
announcement was made in February, the Health Department and the
Minister have known that this is coming since September last year.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Minister, what do you say to.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
That, Well, there's been on look, there's been ongoing conversations Codie.
So having written to the Federal minister, let me just
go back a step. There has been ongoing conversations between
Northern Territory Health and the Federal Health Department. Those conversations
have been specifically around how can we improve the infrastructure
(10:56):
at the Darwin Darwin Hospital. Conversations have been going on
well before the election. In fact, those conversations started back
in February. There has been a submission sent to the
Federal Department of Health back in March, so all of that.
One of those one of those submissions involves a proposal
for thirty five million dollars to perform substantial upgrades to
(11:20):
ensure a co location of services and to improve the
overall makeup of the maternity ward at the Royal Dalen Hospital.
There has been a second option of ten million dollars.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
But the real second option entail well, the.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Second option is a smaller one, but that would only
allow for minor new works to maximize patient flow, upgraded furniture,
and some more aesthetics type of improvement. So the thirty
five million dollars is what we've proposed to the Federal Department.
That proposal was made back in March.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Look, why, I mean, you've known about this since the
end of last year, haven't you, So why only that
proposal in March.
Speaker 3 (11:58):
So let's if we just take a step back. Last
year we were told of the possibility that the maternity
ward would close at the Darwen.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Privacy, So why not at that point start going, okay,
we need to prepare here.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
We weren't given a date last year. We got a
date to earlier this year, and I think the first
date was a closure around April that's now been extended
to Dune the sixth. We do know that those services
will come to an end, So what we have done
is had those ongoing conversations with the Federal Department, which
were still.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Nowhere and it's closing June sixth.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
We're talking about infrastructure upgrades. Infrastructure upgrades aren't going to
happen overnight. What we have been doing in the meantime
is ensuring that we've been working with the private insurers
to make sure that the services are ane.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I actually think.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
We're talking about certainty for territory women, and we're talking
about certainty for women.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Who are really very worried.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
That come June that you know that they're these what
you're proposing may not actually be in place. Can you guarantee, Tessa,
for example, that these services are going to be in
place come June, and that you might have a longer
term plan, but right now they are going to receive
the care that they that's require.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
That's what I've previously said, Katie, is that we've spoken
to the private healthcare insurers. They've confirmed that those packages
are insurable. What I've said is that we will have
an announcement next week on where that private to private
hotel facility will.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
Be in terms of the thirty five million dollars that
then has been requested. I mean, is there capacity here
for you know, for the Department of Health to potentially
take over the ward that was previously being utilized at
the private hospital, I mean the infrastructures there in place.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Is that a possibility?
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Those options have been looked at by the department. We
don't own that building its own, I don't even know
who owns that building, but it's not by an ent health.
What we've looked at is all the options and the
best option that we've come up with at this point
is an additional thirty five million from the federal government
to assist with upgrading the maternity ward at the Royal Dalnhull.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
So would that mean additional beds? What will it mean
if you're able to get that.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
What it would create is additional facilities to address the
most complex neonatal cases, even to assist with the brief parents.
So there's a whole range of upgrades that are needed.
It'd be better access to clinical management, but it would
also give us larger rooms, more rooms and have the
ability to extend those maternity services further than what we
(14:37):
have at the moment.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
All right, Minister.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I had planned to ask you about mental health and
also about acacia, but we are being slammed by expectant
mums sending messages through, so I might get through a
couple of those. If that's okay. I've got one here
that says good morning, Katie. Can you please ask the
minister what arrangements are in place for mums who have
a C section. Given they're going to likely have to
remain in hospital for a few days. Their birth experience
(15:00):
therefore is going to be a public one. It sounds
like they're just offering a hotel stay for after care,
which can't see many people, which I can't see many
people actually wanting to take up.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Says that text.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
When it comes to sea sections, that these are things
that I don't have the technical or the medical experience
to talk about. But what I can say is at
sea sections, as I said, we have over two thousand
babies born at the Royal dah And Hospital every year.
We have the expertise through midwives and obstetricians that deal
with these things on a daily basis. If somebody goes
(15:35):
in and has a sea section, they'll be provided with
the care and support to manage that term.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Look, I can say I had both my children via
the CEA section at Royal Darwin Hospital and received exceptional care.
But I guess the question being asked by these mums
who are paying thousands of dollars in private healthcare is
where are they going to have a bed?
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There are beds at the hospital that it's not an issue.
We've previously spoken about allegations that babies have been born
in the corridor. What I can assure people is it
the care, the service. The midwives and the obstetricians at
the hospital are doing an incredible job and those that
may go in for a C section, they'll get the
care and support that they need during.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
That look and I would echo that I think the nurses,
the doctors, the midwives, everybody at the hospital does an
exceptional job. But the worry here is that as we're
going to see that increase, we are obviously going to
have women who may have a more complicated birth who
were expecting that they were going to be able to
(16:40):
go and have a private room somewhere else, or have
a private room at a hospital who are no longer
going to be able to do that, despite the fact
they're paying for it.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Look, Healthscope have decided to make a commercial decision to
withdraw their maternity services here in Darwin. As an anti
health and as the Minister and the NTI Health Department,
we've been working very closely with the insurers to make
sure that we have alternative packages available. It's as much
as we would like to, we didn't make this decision,
(17:11):
but what we are trying to do is make sure
that every parent, every family has a good birthing experience
at the Royal Darmen Hospital. We can't replicate what the
private provider was previously provoked.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Now look another one here, Hi, Katie. People talking about
the fast striking of jobs for the Darwin Private Hospital
midwives to Royal Darwin Hospital. But how come they still
haven't heard anything about this application and the four week
deadline is tomorrow. There's still left in the dark and
have no updates at all. We're three weeks away, says
(17:43):
that text.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
The advice I have is that those conversations are ongoing
and certainly if there's midwives at the private hospital, I
would encourage them to have those conversations with the public hospital.
But my understanding is that those conversations are ongoing and
there will be opportunities for any midwife that wants to
come over to the public system. Those opportunities will be
(18:06):
there for that person.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
Minister another one here. I understand these packages are coming in,
but will they be in effect by the time the
closure happens. Yes, they most definitely will be.
Speaker 3 (18:18):
Yes, And as I said previously, I'm hoping to have
an announcement next week. I can confirm that the health
health ensurers, the healthcare providers have confirmed with nt Health
that these packages are ensurable. Next week we should have
further news on where that's luxury retret.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
Now, if you have been in those discussions with the
federal government, why did Tasmania get the money and we
still haven't Well.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
I'm not sure what Tasmania got there. I think it
was six million dollars. So what what we've been doing
is looking at what do we really need? Do we
need money to continue a service? What we're looking at
as an opportunity to to improve the experience from others
at the Royal day In Hospital that the proposal we've
(19:06):
put forward is for thirty five million dollars. You can't
put those proposals together overnight. There's been a lot of
work put in to assess what are the real needs
at the Royal day In Hospital. We've put that in writing.
There's been those discussions with the Federal Health Department. Now
that the caretaker period has finished and we have a
new federal government, I've now written to the minister and
hope did you drop the ball.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
There in terms of timing? Should you have done that sooner?
Speaker 5 (19:30):
No?
Speaker 3 (19:30):
No, there's been ongoing conversations with the departments. Certainly during
caretaker mode, which is what twenty eight days. You simply
can't have those conversations. The opportunity is now to confirm
the conversations that have been going on between Antihealth and
the Federal Department, and hopefully we'll hear from the Federal
minister very shortly.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Ministered, just really quickly before I let you go. In
this petition that Territory Families that these Territory Women and
Families have launched, they are asking for the government to
act now. They want to launch a central information hub
where people are able to get transparent, regularly updated online information.
They want you to host a public forum so that
(20:12):
you can explain to everybody exactly what's going on, and
they want you to commit to finding a long term solution.
Are you prepared to enact those requests?
Speaker 3 (20:22):
As I said previously, Katie, what I want to do
is reassure all of those expectant mothers that we have
created the website. There's a lot of information on that
website now that is being run by Into Health that
provides a whole range of updates and covers most of
the issues that I've just spoken about. So all of
that information is up on the website, that website.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Would you host a public forum with them?
Speaker 3 (20:46):
I don't know how many there are altogether, but what
I'd like to do, and I've encouraged I reckon.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
We've got lots of a messaging this morning, Steve.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
Look, look, I'm happy to meet with the mothers. Whether
that needs to be done through a public forum. I've
certainly encouraged any mother's concerned about what's happening to write
directly to me at Minister dot Edgington at NT dot gov.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
DoD Are you I used to go to I used
to go to a Tuesday early birds mother's group. I
think it was called I reckon we need a coffee
with the Health Minister soon to be Mother's group.
Speaker 3 (21:15):
Much to do that.
Speaker 2 (21:16):
Well, it might be.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
Something that is worth doing because it does sound as
though these pregnant mums, mums that are wanting to have babies,
they've still got a lot of questions and they're really worried,
you know, they're concerned because the birth and journey that
they thought.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
They were going to be on has changed. Now.
Speaker 1 (21:31):
I know that the staff at Royal Darwin Hospital do
an incredible job and nobody is disputing that, but there
are still so many mums that are feeling concerned. They're
feeling you know, anxious, they're feeling worried that they're going
to be guinea pigs as this transition changes over. So
it might be worth, you know, having a coffee with
(21:51):
this group of months.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
That's something that I'm happy to consider finding the time
to do that, but I know it's important and I
want to reassure all expectant mothers that we are taking
the action that we've said that we've been doing right.
As soon as we became aware of what's going on,
as soon as we had a closure date, we've been
working extremely hard to make sure that these packages are available.
All of that information is now up on the website
(22:15):
and what I'll be encouraging NTI Health to do is
to make contact with those mothers. And we need to
be careful because we can only contact the mothers that
Healthscope have been able to give information too, So I reckon.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
I be able to get a few of them auganize.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
For if mothers want to share their information, that's with
the private provider with nt Health more than happy to
speak to them.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Minister for Health Steve Edgington really appreciate your time. We'll
get you on another time to talk about the mental
health announcement and also Akasha, thank you, Thanks Katien.
Speaker 5 (22:45):
Good morning to everyone.
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