Mr DUNHAM - 2002-02-28
There are now reports of many people at Alice Springs Hospital queuing up for unacceptably long periods, with at least one reported case of a person who was forced to remain on a trolley for three days. We understand this also may be a phenomenon in the Top End. I seek leave to read into Hansard, and to table a letter that came to my colleague, the Opposition Leader, Denis Burke.
Madam SPEAKER: Is leave granted? No, leave was not granted. There was a no - you said no? Standing order 96, leave of the Assembly must be granted without any dissenting voices, so leave was not granted.
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: I didn’t hear a no, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Look, I take it back. I thought there was a no, so leave is granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I am happy not to table it, in fact, I would prefer not to table it. I was only tabling it as something that might be helpful. I will read it into Hansard.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think there has been some confusion here. Members on this side are quite happy for the member for Drysdale to table the letter.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you. The letter is:
Dear Mr Burke,
I am writing to you in the hope that telling you of my bad experience at Royal Darwin Hospital can eliminate other
people finding themselves in the same situation. Firstly, I was picked up by an ambulance at 5.30 pm after a
misdiagnosis attending the Palmerston Medical Clinic, and arrived at 6.15 pm in the A&E on 13 December 2001.
As soon as I arrived, I was quickly seen by the wonderful attending staff. They made a quick diagnosis and I was left
on the ambulance bed in the Casualty Ward. I was told I had to stay there as there were no beds available upstairs.
I wasn’t happy about this as I suffer from osteoarthritis in the left and right hip, lower back and left shoulder and upper
vertebrae. The staff were sympathetic, but there were no beds available.
At around about 3.30 pm on the 14th (this is the next day) a caring sister found me a recliner chair to help with my pain
of being on a trolley bed for such a long time. They couldn’t prescribe any pain relief until I was properly admitted. After
more than 24 hours in A&E I was finally taken to Ward 4A. It was great to be in a bed away from the noise of fights and
the usual hustle of the A&E. I couldn’t sleep at all in those dreadful conditions.
On 18 December, around lunchtime, I was asked if I could discharge myself so that the bed could be made available for
someone else. I am 66, and of course I was happy to help out someone else but I really wasn’t feeling all that well and
was in bed for another four days at home. My temperature and blood pressure were still fluctuating but I felt this other
person that needed my bed must have been worse off than me.
I believe that the long wait in A&E contributed to my longer stay in hospital. I was suffering from blood poisoning,
bronchial pneumonia and dehydration. I am now on blood pressure tables and have been told by my physician that
it is the stress caused by the hospital stay.
I’d appreciate anything you could do to get the government to work for more beds for the people of the Northern Territory.
Regards
And I have blacked out the name and address.
My question to the minister is: are you aware of what is happening in our hospitals and, if so, how many cases like this have occurred since Christmas, particularly given your claim that you have turned the system around?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for the question. The Royal Darwin Hospital has actually been working at 104% capacity. This is a big strain on the hospital; I will admit that. You may not be aware that the Accident and Emergency department was accredited in November 2001. The national performance indicators have set time limits in which patients must be seen, and Royal Darwin Hospital is consistently exceeding every performance indicator. For example, for triage category 1, the national performance indicators indicate that 100% of patients should be seen immediately. Royal Darwin Hospital consistently meets this standard. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002 ...
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has totally misunderstood what I said. This man was seen very quickly and he thanked the staff for that. The difficulty was that, having been seen, he needed to be admitted and was kept in A&E for a day. He was seen.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are well aware that ministers can answer the question on a very broad range of topics.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, I have been advised by the hospital that it is not uncommon for people to actually wait in Accident and Emergency for some time, while they are being observed, before they are taken to a bed. I have already said that the hospital has been running at 104% capacity.
I will continue. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002, 70% to 78% of patients were seen within the 10 minute time frame.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This particular person, who was moved sufficiently because of their medical condition, to seek advice and assistance on this matter, is not interested in some historic document. He is interested in what the minister is going to do to ensure that he does not find himself, or other patients do not find themselves, in those circumstances again.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, minister, I would ask you to direct your remarks to the question. We have had this over and over again. Get to the point, keep your answer short. We should not have had that letter read at length in the question. Now we do not want a great lengthy document read as an answer. So, could you get on with your answer.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I find it a bit difficult to actually discuss a particular case. Perhaps I would advise the member for Drysdale that he should bring up the issue with my office, and I would be happy to deal with it.
Madam SPEAKER: Is leave granted? No, leave was not granted. There was a no - you said no? Standing order 96, leave of the Assembly must be granted without any dissenting voices, so leave was not granted.
Members interjecting.
Mr Stirling: I didn’t hear a no, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Look, I take it back. I thought there was a no, so leave is granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I am happy not to table it, in fact, I would prefer not to table it. I was only tabling it as something that might be helpful. I will read it into Hansard.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think there has been some confusion here. Members on this side are quite happy for the member for Drysdale to table the letter.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you. The letter is:
Dear Mr Burke,
I am writing to you in the hope that telling you of my bad experience at Royal Darwin Hospital can eliminate other
people finding themselves in the same situation. Firstly, I was picked up by an ambulance at 5.30 pm after a
misdiagnosis attending the Palmerston Medical Clinic, and arrived at 6.15 pm in the A&E on 13 December 2001.
As soon as I arrived, I was quickly seen by the wonderful attending staff. They made a quick diagnosis and I was left
on the ambulance bed in the Casualty Ward. I was told I had to stay there as there were no beds available upstairs.
I wasn’t happy about this as I suffer from osteoarthritis in the left and right hip, lower back and left shoulder and upper
vertebrae. The staff were sympathetic, but there were no beds available.
At around about 3.30 pm on the 14th (this is the next day) a caring sister found me a recliner chair to help with my pain
of being on a trolley bed for such a long time. They couldn’t prescribe any pain relief until I was properly admitted. After
more than 24 hours in A&E I was finally taken to Ward 4A. It was great to be in a bed away from the noise of fights and
the usual hustle of the A&E. I couldn’t sleep at all in those dreadful conditions.
On 18 December, around lunchtime, I was asked if I could discharge myself so that the bed could be made available for
someone else. I am 66, and of course I was happy to help out someone else but I really wasn’t feeling all that well and
was in bed for another four days at home. My temperature and blood pressure were still fluctuating but I felt this other
person that needed my bed must have been worse off than me.
I believe that the long wait in A&E contributed to my longer stay in hospital. I was suffering from blood poisoning,
bronchial pneumonia and dehydration. I am now on blood pressure tables and have been told by my physician that
it is the stress caused by the hospital stay.
I’d appreciate anything you could do to get the government to work for more beds for the people of the Northern Territory.
Regards
And I have blacked out the name and address.
My question to the minister is: are you aware of what is happening in our hospitals and, if so, how many cases like this have occurred since Christmas, particularly given your claim that you have turned the system around?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Drysdale for the question. The Royal Darwin Hospital has actually been working at 104% capacity. This is a big strain on the hospital; I will admit that. You may not be aware that the Accident and Emergency department was accredited in November 2001. The national performance indicators have set time limits in which patients must be seen, and Royal Darwin Hospital is consistently exceeding every performance indicator. For example, for triage category 1, the national performance indicators indicate that 100% of patients should be seen immediately. Royal Darwin Hospital consistently meets this standard. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002 ...
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The minister has totally misunderstood what I said. This man was seen very quickly and he thanked the staff for that. The difficulty was that, having been seen, he needed to be admitted and was kept in A&E for a day. He was seen.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition are well aware that ministers can answer the question on a very broad range of topics.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, I have been advised by the hospital that it is not uncommon for people to actually wait in Accident and Emergency for some time, while they are being observed, before they are taken to a bed. I have already said that the hospital has been running at 104% capacity.
I will continue. For triage category 2, the national guideline indicates that 75% of patients should be seen within 10 minutes. At Royal Darwin Hospital over the period of August 2001 to January 2002, 70% to 78% of patients were seen within the 10 minute time frame.
Mr REED: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This particular person, who was moved sufficiently because of their medical condition, to seek advice and assistance on this matter, is not interested in some historic document. He is interested in what the minister is going to do to ensure that he does not find himself, or other patients do not find themselves, in those circumstances again.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, minister, I would ask you to direct your remarks to the question. We have had this over and over again. Get to the point, keep your answer short. We should not have had that letter read at length in the question. Now we do not want a great lengthy document read as an answer. So, could you get on with your answer.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I find it a bit difficult to actually discuss a particular case. Perhaps I would advise the member for Drysdale that he should bring up the issue with my office, and I would be happy to deal with it.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016