Mr HENDERSON - 1999-10-19
I refer again to the document by Dr David Green, just tabled. I quote:
In 1999 most of the registrars are non-trainees and in most places would be employed as junior RMOs. This lack of supervision leads to significant missed injuries and misdiagnoses. I have seen 3 significant cases of potential medico-legal significance in 5 days’ work here.
Minister, this statement means that your mismanagement of the health system is putting lives at risk. How could 3 significant cases of potential medical negligence in 5 days be described as anything other than a crisis?
ANSWER
It is not a crisis, Mr Speaker. I have now had an opportunity to briefly peruse the letter. The letter was written 26 February 1999. Dr Green was writing the letter for a couple of reasons. One was to make sure that there was a strenuous lobby put forward for the government, which was then framing its budget, to make sure that the capital works for accident and emergency did get up in the budget. And we now know - all of us in the House should now know, including the member for Wanguri - that it does feature prominently in the budget, and that this financial year the works will progress.
We’ve now moved from the physical infrastructure to human resources. And yes, there are occasions, I suppose, when the Northern Territory government would prefer to have more specialists than it has in all departments in its hospitals. It is a difficult thing occasionally to attract the fully-qualified level of speciality that is available in other states. Nevertheless we do have 2 emergency specialists in the department. We do have a fairly good nursing speciality in that area, with some nurses having been there for a significant amount of time.
Yes, from time to time in the emergency department, due to the stresses of the work that’s done there, there will be occasions when a doctor believes on first blush that he’s seeing a particular problem and later on, with detailed analysis from pathology, X-rays and other tests that are ordered, the first diagnosis is ...
Ms Martin: He described the department as dysfunctional.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr DUNHAM: You didn’t ask the question.
That is why those tests are ordered. I said before that we have 180 000 occasions of care. That’s across some 90 000 patients. It’s evident to everybody that when someone presents at accident and emergency the first diagnosis may subsequently prove to be wrong. That’s why we have that many occasions of care.
Let us look at what Labor would do about this. We know in this House they do have 3 policies. The first is to serve up the headlines of the NT News - I guess we will get a question about ‘The Full Monty’ later on - the second is froth and the third is bubble. For the Labor opposition to stand here in this House and pretend it is an alternative government ...
Ms Martin: You have failed to provide the basics.
Mr DUNHAM: We know that the basics are not even in their policy documents, because they do not have them. I think it is a betrayal of Territorians who voted for them on the basis of a policy document and their promise that others would be developed in short time. If the Opposition want a debate on Royal Darwin Hospital, I will parade their documents. They are very poor documents indeed.
In 1999 most of the registrars are non-trainees and in most places would be employed as junior RMOs. This lack of supervision leads to significant missed injuries and misdiagnoses. I have seen 3 significant cases of potential medico-legal significance in 5 days’ work here.
Minister, this statement means that your mismanagement of the health system is putting lives at risk. How could 3 significant cases of potential medical negligence in 5 days be described as anything other than a crisis?
ANSWER
It is not a crisis, Mr Speaker. I have now had an opportunity to briefly peruse the letter. The letter was written 26 February 1999. Dr Green was writing the letter for a couple of reasons. One was to make sure that there was a strenuous lobby put forward for the government, which was then framing its budget, to make sure that the capital works for accident and emergency did get up in the budget. And we now know - all of us in the House should now know, including the member for Wanguri - that it does feature prominently in the budget, and that this financial year the works will progress.
We’ve now moved from the physical infrastructure to human resources. And yes, there are occasions, I suppose, when the Northern Territory government would prefer to have more specialists than it has in all departments in its hospitals. It is a difficult thing occasionally to attract the fully-qualified level of speciality that is available in other states. Nevertheless we do have 2 emergency specialists in the department. We do have a fairly good nursing speciality in that area, with some nurses having been there for a significant amount of time.
Yes, from time to time in the emergency department, due to the stresses of the work that’s done there, there will be occasions when a doctor believes on first blush that he’s seeing a particular problem and later on, with detailed analysis from pathology, X-rays and other tests that are ordered, the first diagnosis is ...
Ms Martin: He described the department as dysfunctional.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr DUNHAM: You didn’t ask the question.
That is why those tests are ordered. I said before that we have 180 000 occasions of care. That’s across some 90 000 patients. It’s evident to everybody that when someone presents at accident and emergency the first diagnosis may subsequently prove to be wrong. That’s why we have that many occasions of care.
Let us look at what Labor would do about this. We know in this House they do have 3 policies. The first is to serve up the headlines of the NT News - I guess we will get a question about ‘The Full Monty’ later on - the second is froth and the third is bubble. For the Labor opposition to stand here in this House and pretend it is an alternative government ...
Ms Martin: You have failed to provide the basics.
Mr DUNHAM: We know that the basics are not even in their policy documents, because they do not have them. I think it is a betrayal of Territorians who voted for them on the basis of a policy document and their promise that others would be developed in short time. If the Opposition want a debate on Royal Darwin Hospital, I will parade their documents. They are very poor documents indeed.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016