ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
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Mr WOOD: The other question is in relation to security at RDH. I know you have
no-smoking areas,
but are you able to give us an idea of what the cost of security is at Royal Darwin Hospital?
Mr WILSON: I am not sure if we can give you that, but we are certainly happy to take that on notice
and if we can get a figure for you then I am very happy to give you that.
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Question on Notice No 7.14.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Could you repeat that member for Nelson?
Mr WOOD: How much does it cost to provide security for Royal Darwin Hospital, on an annual basis?
Mr CHAIRMAN: And that is question No 7.14.
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Mr WOOD: My last question is a general question about hospitals. Did the government promise to
build a
hospital at Palmerston and, if so, have they reconsidered that in relation to the possible
development of Weddell as probably the third new city in the Darwin region?
Mr VATSKALIS: We commissioned Ernst & Young to develop a hospital services plan for the
Northern Territory over the next 20 years, not only for Darwin or rural. The report is near completion
and sensible consideration by the Minister for Health, myself, and by Cabinet in due course. There
are 54 accommodations covering six areas managing demand and applying for future green costs
services, but it is important to identify where
the pressure is where, where the demand is, what kind of
centre we need and where, subject to aged care because we are starting have more old people in the
Territory; capital infrastructure; what we need; how big it is going to be, is it going to be a full grown
hospital or not; the workforce, where are we going to find the people. Now we
have the medical
school and, of course, the nurses school its much easier, but the technology and the organisation.
We have not said it is going to be build there, we know that we will definitely need one in the growing
rural area of Darwin because rural area and Palmerston are growing so, obviously, it has to be
somewhere not in the centre of Darwin, but somewhere further out from Darwin.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, minister.
Mr CHAIRMAN: Member for Macdonnell has a clarification question for you.
Ms ANDERSON: Minister, where do I ask the question about the Aboriginal Interpreter Service
Review of the Alice Springs Hospital. So can I ask it in general questions?
Mr CHAIRMAN: Non-output specific. So, that is at the end.
Ms ANDERSON. Okay.
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The committee suspended.
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Mr CHAIRMAN: We are resuming at Output 2.1 with member for Macdonnell.
Ms ANDERSON: The clarification I wanted was whether …
Mr VATSKALIS: It is in generic. In out of …
ESTIMATES COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS – 17 JUNE 2010
Ms ANDERSON: Later on, yes.
Mr CHAIRMAN: In
that case, member for Goyder has a local member question.
Mr PURICK: Minister, it is in regard to aero-medical. I understand in February this year the 80 nurses
employed with the aero-medical contract through the department of Health were told their
employment was no longer required. Are those nurses going to be gainfully employed through the
department of Health?
Mr VATSKALIS: That is not true; they were not told they were no longer required. They were offered
positions within the department, or offered leave without pay if they wanted to apply for a position with
the new aero-medical provider. No nurses were dismissed or transferred. If they wanted
to leave, that
was their choice.
Ms PURICK: How many have opted to stay on, and how many have elected to leave?
Ms MASON: The majority have elected to stay on. Seven staff members chose voluntary
retrenchment.
Ms PURICK: The reason I am asking is I have a few of these people living in my electorate in the
rural area, so it is quite legitimate.
Minster, given there has been about 64 years of history with aero-medical, is the government planning
any particular thank you to acknowledge the service and the work these nurses - some of them, as
you know, have had 30 years experience
in aero-medical, and one person in particular lives in my
electorate - to thank them for their invaluable service and contribution to remote nursing.
Mr VATSKALIS: I do not have a problem with that. It is a good idea, and I will take it on board.
Ms PURICK: Thank you. Can I clarify that, you said seven took redundancy?
Ms MASON: Voluntary retrenchment.
Ms PURICK: What happened to the rest of them?
Ms MASON: It is a combination of taking positions within the department, or taking leave without pay
to work for the interim provider.
Ms PURICK: Has the interim provider, which I understand is CareFlight New South Wales - is there
any arrangement between the NT government and CareFlight to give
preference to these highly
skilled and professional people?
Mr VATSKALIS: No, there is not, and I met with the Nursing Federation. I advised the Nursing
Federation (inaudible) skills be provided, and we will stick to it, we are not going to lower the bar. The
Nursing Federation negotiated with CareFlight New South Wales about the provision of services.
Ms PURICK: Thank you, minister.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Minister, some issues around aero-medical services to Katherine, how
many trained flight nurses are located at Katherine at present?
Mr VATSKALIS: My advice is two, but we will confirm that information. Bear in mind that they will be
located Katherine. It is provided with
the current provider, Pearl Aviation but, then, when contract