ROYALLY DESTITUTE HOSPITALS

Territory’s head doctor warns underfunding at Palmerston and RDH is putting lives at risk

SOMEONE will die at Royal Darwin Hospital unless the Territory gets more money so it can effectively manage both RDH and the new Palmerston Regional Hospital, warns Australian Medical Association NT president Rob Parker.

Before PRH was built, the Federal Government gave the NT Government $70 million to help build the 116-bed facility.

Despite this cash splash, the feds didn’t provide any money to fund the ongoing operation of PRH.

“The NT was given money to build the hospital but wasn’t given the money to run it, and it’s put unnecessary stress on the NT Health budget,” Dr Parker said.

According to Dr Parker, this lack of budget foresight means supplies and staff are being stretched over the two facilities, affecting the standard of care medical staff can to give patients.

He said the current climate at RDH was similar to the situation in 2006, when Margaret Winter died after falling from her ICU bed.

In an inquest into her death, NT coroner Greg Cavanagh found it “may well have been preventable” and the risk was compounded by a “crisis in nursing staffing”.

Dr Parker said the tragic death of Ms Winter showed what could go wrong in a health facility when staffing numbers were stretched.

“It occurred in a very similar environment to what we have now, where there was a strain on resources,” he said.

Dr Parker isn’t the only one concerned. Earlier this month, a report by NT auditor-general Julie Crisp found there were “insufficient funds to cover the operation of PRH”.

Dr Parker is calling on Territory Health Minister Natasha Fyles to push for more Commonwealth funding. It’s a call Ms Fyles said she was answering. “We will always work with our federal counterparts to fight for a fair deal for Territorians, especially in relation to health services,” she said.

“At the recent Health COAG, the states and territories passed a motion that if federal health funding is not sorted by next Friday it will go on the agenda at the next Prime Ministerial COAG meeting, which will he held later this year.” Ms Fyles said.

PRH was fully funded, and insisted it would monitor operational costs closely.

It’s not good enough for Deputy Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro.

“The bed block, waiting lists and understaffing at Royal Darwin and budget concerns for Palmerston hospital are deeply concerning,” she said.

A spokeswoman for Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said it had increased the Northern Territory’s hospital funding by $38.2 million in the past financial year.

TO build a hospital you can’t afford to run is a bizarre decision. To then assume a budget from another already understress hospital will cover it is worse.

Not only is the Palmerston Regional Hospital lacking in services, it is pulling resources away from the Territory’s main care facility. Doctors and nurses are being spread thin between the two and soon patients will be at risk.

Already AMA NT president Rob Parker says people will die unnecessarily if this isn’t sorted. And still, politicians are blaming each other. Instead of now committing more funding, NT Labor Health Minister Natasha Fyles says she needs more help from the Federal Government. CLP deputy opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro offers only complaints without suggesting where to find the money. The Feds say they’ve already committed more than previous years.

And while this back and forth has been going on, Territorians’ lives are becoming endangered.

Enough is enough. In a place with such enormous health problems, the question shouldn’t be who pays but rather how much do you need?