Health Care Failing In Central Australia

Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Hospitals continue to face major doctor shortages in spite of complaints and recommendations by senior doctors for adequate resources from the Government, according to Shadow Minister for Health, Dr Richard Lim.

"Not only are we hearing that waiting times at Emergency Departments are very long, we now hear about,

1. doctors being '... forced to work working shifts in excess of 24 hours ...' (Centralian Advocate 5 September 2006) at the Alice Springs Hospital,
2. Tennant Creek Hospital is again without a senior medical officer;
3. the medical roster at Tennant Creek Hospital is being covered by junior doctors only;
4. nursing shortages with nurses working lots of overtime and double shifts; and
5. cancelling of elective surgery in our training hospitals.”

Dr Lim said.

"It is unsafe for patients and staff when medical and nursing staff are working such long hours.

"It is unsafe for patients and doctors for the junior doctors to be working without supervision.

"No senior public servant, such as Health Chief Executive Officer or his deputies would be prepared to work these long hours, yet are prepared to force doctors and nurses into working these unsafe rosters.

"Poor management of the hospitals have prevented Central Australians from getting their elective surgery. It appears that the Health bureaucracy is more concerned about their budgets rather than the well being of patients.

"Tennant Creek residents are without adequate medical care when the last senior medical officer left town last week. His attempts to put in place a system which provided the presence of at least one senior medical officer at all times was frustrated by Health bureaucracy.

"How can the Government boast about their largest health budget since they came into government, when services for Central Australians continue to fall, each month seeing poorer outcomes, and patients getting sicker?

"And while services continue to fall, we have a change of Health Minister who will not be able to engage with the problems until he gets up to speed on these matters.

"How long do Territorians have to suffer while the Labor Government continues to fail in its most basic delivery of core services to Territorians?”

2006-09-05