Mr HATTON - 2000-03-01
Yesterday in this House the member for Wanguri alleged an impending crisis at the Royal Darwin Hospital with the Accident and Emergency Department about to lose its accreditation. After some 7 years experience with this chameleon of Territory politics, I get used to somebody who does this miraculous conversion to a concerned community citizen. All it takes is to get preselected and it reverts to type as soon as they lose an election. In their camouflage suit of a concerned citizen, this particular chameleon is awarded tenancy to exaggeration, scare mongering, imaginative use of data...
Mr Stirling: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the member get on with the question please.
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, it is important because we’re used to him jumping onto the nearest bandwagon that’s passing near his horizon. I tend to be a bit sceptical about everything the member for Wanguri says unless I can check everything because I’m used to the misinformation that flows from him. However, sadly, many people in the community ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The member should get to the question as quickly as possible. It’s up to the minister to provide the answer.
Mr HATTON: The point I’m making is that as the NT News said this morning there could be a crisis of confidence arising from what the member for Wanguri said yesterday, and there is a real concern about this. My question to the minister is this: for those who are listening to this broadcast, and were listening yesterday, and are concerned that patient care is at risk, can the minister clarify what accreditation Royal Darwin Hospital has?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,I wouldn’t call the member for Wanguri a chameleon - was it? It’s more of a poultry thing. We’re talking the henny penny concept here, the sky is going to fall in stuff. I think it’s more to do with chooks.
The member for Wanguri, I can recall his maiden speech, stood up in this House and talked about how he was a true believer. That’s a much misused expression by the Labor Party. I’m sure that the old Labor stalwarts would be flicking in their grave about what this man has done, denigrating aged people in my electorate, denigrating the good work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and denigrating the Royal Darwin Hospital. They are true deceivers.
I am very pleased to be able to correct much of the misinformation that was spread by the member yesterday because I was given the opportunity by the media to comment on some of his more outrageous claims. Those people who listened to the broadcast yesterday would have had some relief that the outrageous claims he put in his question yesterday were accountably untrue.
For the benefit of those members of the community tuning into this broadcast this morning, I want to assure them that they will receive the best possible care if and when they are sick and attend Royal Darwin Hospital. The claim yesterday was baseless in every single way.
It is very, very important to note that the member for Wanguri made a generalisation in his question; that is, the A&E Department was ‘about to lose its accreditation’. I have no doubt that those listening to the broadcast would perceive that this accreditation was the so-called impending crisis and it had something to do with patient care, which is what the fundamental job of Royal Darwin is. The accreditation he referred to has nothing to do with the accreditation of treating patients. The long bow he was trying to draw was that it involved the teaching of junior specialist doctors. So, in the first place, we have to work out who the client is. Are we talking about doctors or are we are talking about patients?
I said in this place yesterday that we heard a series of claims from this member before Christmas that Alice Springs and Darwin Hospitals would be hit by staffing crisis. It did not happen. It was followed by outrageous claims that sick babes would be flown south for treatment. It did not happen.
Despite our accreditation to treat patients as being completely separate and not affected by yesterday’s claims, he still got it wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Apart from the fact that the doctor in question, who is leaving, Dr Treston, will be replaced by an accredited physician, the doctor who’s departure is supposedly imminent, does not leave until later this year, after accreditation, which occurs in May.
In addition to Dr Treston’s continuing employment, at least 3 new world-standard specialists will be working in Accident and Emergency by the time accreditation is due. Another three. One of these, Dr Didier Palmer, I’m assured by RDH Medical Superintendent, is expected to be accredited soon after he takes up his position. This gentleman has worked for a couple of years for us in the past as a senior clinical academic in emergency medicine.
It is quite unusual for Royal Darwin Hospital to have to defend itself in the media, and a media release was put out last night. I’m happy to table this media release, but essentially it was put out because of the unfounded attacks on this fine institution, and it sets the record straight, not from the legal point of view, but from the medical and hospital point of view.
The medical superintendent at Royal Darwin Hospital - I’ll read this out for the benefit of Hansard:
Royal Darwin Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Len Notaras, today assured Territorians they could have every confidence in the quality of clinical services provided by staff at the hospital’s emergency department. Dr Notaras’s assurances came shortly after allegations ...
I would have put scurrilous in there:
... allegations were raised concerning the department’s accreditation status. ‘The emergency department’, Dr Notaras said, ‘is well recognised throughout Australia as one of the nation’s most competent clinical facilities, a fact reinforced by its support of the recent ADF efforts in Timor. The staff, medical and nursing, are all highly credentialled and the unit continues to be accredited under national ACHS guidelines’. He said the current issues related to teaching and not medical emergency services. ‘The Emergency Department has for the last 3 years held teaching status with the College of Emergency Physicians, and that status may be threatened if the senior supervising physician were to resign. It is particularly well recognised that the medical profession is dynamic and that people come and go, particularly in this area. Should a vacancy occur, a suitable new recruit will be found’. Dr Notaras pointed out, ‘The Emergency Department at Royal Darwin Hospital is staffed by 2 specialist physicians with a further 2 arriving in little over a month’s time. Five years ago the department employed only 1 specialist and prior to that, none.
The other thing I had hoped that the member for Wanguri would do when he jumped to his feet was apologise over the various scurrilous allegations he has made.
The one that comes most immediately to mind, while we are talking about Accident and Emergency, is the example of Alice Springs, where he talked about the crisis that was going to occur over Christmas. Currently in Alice Springs we have the greatest number of medical specialists in it’s history. The greatest number ever. The qualifications and specialists of the newcomers are particularly impressive. For the first time in Alice Springs we have a specialist in emergency medicine. This lady’s name is Dr Elizabeth Mowatt, and she is taking up the position of Head of Emergency Medicine and, as I said earlier, she is the first one we have ever had in Alice. These are very difficult people to recruit, and in both Alice and Darwin we are in the happy position of having well-credentialed specialists.
I ask the member for Wanguri to be a little more helpful in his criticism. I ask him to pay particular attention, not just to the facts and the truth, but to his heritage as a Labor politician. He should be looking to the fundamentals of his faith, as a true believer, and he should be looking to support the good work that has been done, particularly in health and social services, by this government. It’s an effort we’re immensely proud of. Most Labor governments would give their right arm to achieve what we’ve done in the areas of my portfolio innovations. I ask the member to look to his belief system. I ask him to be less critical of …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr DUNHAM: … those people who are in the sorry position of needing acute services at our hospitals, those people who are in an impoverished situation and who have to call on the services of that fine organisation, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and also the older folk in our community who require housing and who may from time to time call to the government to provide housing for them. If he looks to those fundamentals and looks at himself in the mirror, he will realise he’s betrayed his party and he’s betrayed Territorians.
Mr Stirling: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Would the member get on with the question please.
Mr HATTON: Mr Speaker, it is important because we’re used to him jumping onto the nearest bandwagon that’s passing near his horizon. I tend to be a bit sceptical about everything the member for Wanguri says unless I can check everything because I’m used to the misinformation that flows from him. However, sadly, many people in the community ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is a point of order. The member should get to the question as quickly as possible. It’s up to the minister to provide the answer.
Mr HATTON: The point I’m making is that as the NT News said this morning there could be a crisis of confidence arising from what the member for Wanguri said yesterday, and there is a real concern about this. My question to the minister is this: for those who are listening to this broadcast, and were listening yesterday, and are concerned that patient care is at risk, can the minister clarify what accreditation Royal Darwin Hospital has?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker,I wouldn’t call the member for Wanguri a chameleon - was it? It’s more of a poultry thing. We’re talking the henny penny concept here, the sky is going to fall in stuff. I think it’s more to do with chooks.
The member for Wanguri, I can recall his maiden speech, stood up in this House and talked about how he was a true believer. That’s a much misused expression by the Labor Party. I’m sure that the old Labor stalwarts would be flicking in their grave about what this man has done, denigrating aged people in my electorate, denigrating the good work of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and denigrating the Royal Darwin Hospital. They are true deceivers.
I am very pleased to be able to correct much of the misinformation that was spread by the member yesterday because I was given the opportunity by the media to comment on some of his more outrageous claims. Those people who listened to the broadcast yesterday would have had some relief that the outrageous claims he put in his question yesterday were accountably untrue.
For the benefit of those members of the community tuning into this broadcast this morning, I want to assure them that they will receive the best possible care if and when they are sick and attend Royal Darwin Hospital. The claim yesterday was baseless in every single way.
It is very, very important to note that the member for Wanguri made a generalisation in his question; that is, the A&E Department was ‘about to lose its accreditation’. I have no doubt that those listening to the broadcast would perceive that this accreditation was the so-called impending crisis and it had something to do with patient care, which is what the fundamental job of Royal Darwin is. The accreditation he referred to has nothing to do with the accreditation of treating patients. The long bow he was trying to draw was that it involved the teaching of junior specialist doctors. So, in the first place, we have to work out who the client is. Are we talking about doctors or are we are talking about patients?
I said in this place yesterday that we heard a series of claims from this member before Christmas that Alice Springs and Darwin Hospitals would be hit by staffing crisis. It did not happen. It was followed by outrageous claims that sick babes would be flown south for treatment. It did not happen.
Despite our accreditation to treat patients as being completely separate and not affected by yesterday’s claims, he still got it wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Apart from the fact that the doctor in question, who is leaving, Dr Treston, will be replaced by an accredited physician, the doctor who’s departure is supposedly imminent, does not leave until later this year, after accreditation, which occurs in May.
In addition to Dr Treston’s continuing employment, at least 3 new world-standard specialists will be working in Accident and Emergency by the time accreditation is due. Another three. One of these, Dr Didier Palmer, I’m assured by RDH Medical Superintendent, is expected to be accredited soon after he takes up his position. This gentleman has worked for a couple of years for us in the past as a senior clinical academic in emergency medicine.
It is quite unusual for Royal Darwin Hospital to have to defend itself in the media, and a media release was put out last night. I’m happy to table this media release, but essentially it was put out because of the unfounded attacks on this fine institution, and it sets the record straight, not from the legal point of view, but from the medical and hospital point of view.
The medical superintendent at Royal Darwin Hospital - I’ll read this out for the benefit of Hansard:
Royal Darwin Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Len Notaras, today assured Territorians they could have every confidence in the quality of clinical services provided by staff at the hospital’s emergency department. Dr Notaras’s assurances came shortly after allegations ...
I would have put scurrilous in there:
... allegations were raised concerning the department’s accreditation status. ‘The emergency department’, Dr Notaras said, ‘is well recognised throughout Australia as one of the nation’s most competent clinical facilities, a fact reinforced by its support of the recent ADF efforts in Timor. The staff, medical and nursing, are all highly credentialled and the unit continues to be accredited under national ACHS guidelines’. He said the current issues related to teaching and not medical emergency services. ‘The Emergency Department has for the last 3 years held teaching status with the College of Emergency Physicians, and that status may be threatened if the senior supervising physician were to resign. It is particularly well recognised that the medical profession is dynamic and that people come and go, particularly in this area. Should a vacancy occur, a suitable new recruit will be found’. Dr Notaras pointed out, ‘The Emergency Department at Royal Darwin Hospital is staffed by 2 specialist physicians with a further 2 arriving in little over a month’s time. Five years ago the department employed only 1 specialist and prior to that, none.
The other thing I had hoped that the member for Wanguri would do when he jumped to his feet was apologise over the various scurrilous allegations he has made.
The one that comes most immediately to mind, while we are talking about Accident and Emergency, is the example of Alice Springs, where he talked about the crisis that was going to occur over Christmas. Currently in Alice Springs we have the greatest number of medical specialists in it’s history. The greatest number ever. The qualifications and specialists of the newcomers are particularly impressive. For the first time in Alice Springs we have a specialist in emergency medicine. This lady’s name is Dr Elizabeth Mowatt, and she is taking up the position of Head of Emergency Medicine and, as I said earlier, she is the first one we have ever had in Alice. These are very difficult people to recruit, and in both Alice and Darwin we are in the happy position of having well-credentialed specialists.
I ask the member for Wanguri to be a little more helpful in his criticism. I ask him to pay particular attention, not just to the facts and the truth, but to his heritage as a Labor politician. He should be looking to the fundamentals of his faith, as a true believer, and he should be looking to support the good work that has been done, particularly in health and social services, by this government. It’s an effort we’re immensely proud of. Most Labor governments would give their right arm to achieve what we’ve done in the areas of my portfolio innovations. I ask the member to look to his belief system. I ask him to be less critical of …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr DUNHAM: … those people who are in the sorry position of needing acute services at our hospitals, those people who are in an impoverished situation and who have to call on the services of that fine organisation, the Society of St Vincent de Paul, and also the older folk in our community who require housing and who may from time to time call to the government to provide housing for them. If he looks to those fundamentals and looks at himself in the mirror, he will realise he’s betrayed his party and he’s betrayed Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016