Nurses at Royal Darwin Hospital in the Northern Territory have raised serious concerns about their safety, reporting daily instances of threats and violence. The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) claims that the emergency department (ED) is often operating at 150 percent of its intended capacity, which exacerbates the situation.
Despite these alarming reports, Chris Hosking, the chief executive of NT Health, has dismissed calls for a comprehensive security review of the ED. He maintains that the hospital does not have a systemic issue regarding slow response times to incidents involving staff safety.
Heidi Crisp, the ANMF secretary, highlighted that nurses frequently experience threats and actual assaults, leaving them traumatized. Crisp quoted a union member expressing deep concerns about the possibility of a serious incident, such as a stabbing, occurring within the department.
Concerns have also been raised regarding the response time of law enforcement and private security personnel. Crisp noted it can take up to 15 minutes for security staff to respond to alarms, often leaving nurse team leaders unaware of the situation. She called for the alarm system to be improved so that team leaders are notified immediately when an alarm is triggered.
In response to these claims, Hosking stated that the safety of hospital staff is a priority and insisted that the delays in response times are isolated incidents. Although he has rejected the idea of a security review, he mentioned that measures are being taken to enhance safety, including providing personal duress alarms for nursing staff and ensuring real-time notifications for nurse team leaders when alarms are activated.
NT Police indicated they could not address the allegations regarding slow responses without specific incident details. Meanwhile, the ANMF has requested that NT WorkSafe investigate the working conditions in the ED, a process that the regulator has already initiated following reports of staff safety concerns.
The ANMF further warned that the current staff-to-patient ratios are unsafe, with the ED often exceeding its capacity. Crisp asserted that nurses may have to care for as many as 30 patients simultaneously, which is an untenable situation. She stressed that if such conditions lead to a patient’s death, the responsibility would ultimately fall on the government.
Hosking acknowledged the challenges facing the ED, admitting they are operating near full capacity due to a lack of available hospital beds. However, he disagreed with characterizing the environment as unsafe, suggesting that instances of one nurse caring for 30 patients are exceptional and not the norm. He noted that two new wards, set to open later this year, would help alleviate some of the pressure by adding to the hospital’s existing 400 beds.
Data from the Health Department reveals that over the past six years, the percentage of patients treated and discharged from emergency departments within the recommended four-hour timeframe has declined significantly, dropping from 67 percent in 2018-19 to just 54 percent. Hosking pointed out that this issue is not unique to Royal Darwin Hospital, as emergency departments across Australia are similarly struggling to meet their performance indicators.
He emphasized that triaging remains effective, ensuring that critical cases, such as those with chest pain, receive prompt attention, while less urgent cases may experience longer wait times. Ultimately, Hosking concluded that to adequately address the challenges posed by increasing patient numbers, a new, larger hospital will likely be necessary, calling for governmental support to fund such an initiative.
