Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says it is unbelievable that the Health Minister finds it ‘too hard’ to work out how many doctors and nurses she needs to recruit to plug the critical staff shortages across the NT.
“Opposition questions, submitted through a formal Parliamentary process, quizzed the Health Minister on how many doctor and nurse positions are currently vacant at Royal Darwin Hospital, Palmerston Regional Hospital, Alice Springs Hospital, Gove District Hospital, Tennant Creek Hospital and Katherine Hospital – and how long those positions have been vacant.
“Instead of telling Territorians the numbers, the Minister said ‘To respond to this question is too administratively onerous and would result in undue diversion of resources from service delivery’.
“Minister Fyles has admitted she doesn’t know how many nurses and doctors are needed for our crippled health system, despite the fact she has overseen four Code Yellow critical bed and staff shortages at Royal Darwin Hospital in less than 12 months. That is utterly shameful,” said Mrs Finocchiaro.
Shadow Minister for Health, Bill Yan, says the response from the Health Minister is disgraceful.
“How can Minister Fyles run an adequate recruitment process if she doesn’t know how many positions need to be filled, or how long those positions have been vacant for?
“The Minister is either lying or totally incompetent – I’m not sure what’s worse. It’s not good enough and Territorians deserve better,” said Mr Yan.
ENDS