Interview with Steve Price from Triple M Australia on 19 November 2021 on the outbreak in the Northern Territory

Read the transcript of Minister Gillespie's interview with Steve Price from Triple M Australia on 19 November 2021 on the outbreak in the Northern Territory.

STEVE PRICE:     

We'll also talk this hour to the Mayor of Katherine. The outbreak there is a very dangerous one. It's an ongoing situation. Dr David Gillespie is the Regional Health Minister. Good to talk to you again.

MINISTER GILLESPIE:

G’day, Steve. How are you?

STEVE PRICE:     

I'm okay. What's your feeling about whether the, the health system in the

territory can cope with a COVID outbreak like this?

MINISTER GILLESPIE:

Well, I think they are getting control of things. The report I received last night is very encouraging. There's 21 cases in that Katherine/Robinson River cluster. They all link back to the earlier outbreak some weeks, or about a month ago. But with the vaccine blitz and the rapid uptake that is finally happening amongst the Indigenous, I think I'm cautiously optimistic that we're plateauing and we'll see things drop away.

But there is such a concerted effort between Northern Territory Health, between additional vaccine capability, courtesy of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and vaccine specialist vaccinators. Both Katherine, Roper, Robinson River, are seeing things seem to be slowing down in that often seen curve, it drops away pretty quickly once you get a critical vaccination distribution.

STEVE PRICE:     

Yeah, I read some figures out yesterday about some of the more remote areas of the Territory, around places like Katherine, and the vaccination rates were very low. It would appear that there has been some sort of social media message got into those communities, and they've being reluctant to do it. Are you working on making sure that that message is changed?

MINISTER GILLESPIE:

Look, there has been a tailored vaccination communication strategy for Indigenous in up to 15 different languages across the Torres Strait Islander Northern Australia mix. We've also added, subsequently, some quite prominent characters like Baker Boy and model, Samantha Harris, and, you know, celebrity chef Nornie Bero, and many other prominent Indigenous leaders to that existing communication strategy. But it is working.

Unfortunately, like we found in western New South Wales, vaccine hesitancy and complacency rapidly vanishes once people realise there is a chance that they could actually get the virus. So between that expanded network of vaccinations, and the communication, and the reality dawning on people that they're not immune to it even if they are in a remote area, the nature of the, particularly the Delta virus, it is very easily transmissible. But like I said, I'm cautiously optimistic that they are getting on top of it and things will drop away. But, yeah, the next couple of days will be critical.

STEVE PRICE:

We'll get the latest from Elizabeth Clark, the Mayor up there, shortly. I had an email, and you know, I've talked a lot about this, Minister, about GPs and, and the lack of…

MINISTER GILLESPIE: 

Yes.

STEVE PRICE:     

… GP numbers in, in regional Australia. I had an email from Steve, who's been talking to his local doctor recently, an experienced GP in regional Australia, and he sent me, you know, what he thinks is almost verbatim what the GP said. He said that the Government or the medical authorities, have to look at legislating to force new graduates, regardless of their chosen field of medicine, to do a term in country areas - not of their preference - doing GP work, would help solve the problem. And also, he refers to overseas qualified GPs not being forced to return to their country of origin because their visa has run out.

He made the point that the practice that he was visiting had lost a couple of great doctors because of red tape and bureaucracy. One doctor would've stayed, and could've stayed, was happy to do so, but his wife, who's a qualified psychologist, could not get a visa extension. So- And he does also make the point that many overseas GPs, all with different cultural backgrounds, when their children want to get educated, they radiate back to the city and their cultural background.

So I know you were in Dubbo recently, I think…

MINISTER GILLESPIE:     

Yeah.

STEVE PRICE:     

… this week, looking at that new medical centre- new doctors training centre there. Are you going to be able to fix this issue by training doctors in the regions to begin with? Rather than in Sydney?

MINISTER GILLESPIE:

Well, yes. We have got huge network of rural clinical schools where - there's 21 in fact, both training med students to become young doctors and nurses and allied health across the nation. We have also built and expanded on that model, and we've got five universities delivering the whole med school program in country areas like Dubbo, like Wagga, and three others sites across Victoria - Shepparton, Mildura, Bendigo.

And the thing that we really want to expand, which is controlled in- is the second degree part of a, a doctor's training. You used to, in the old days, just do a university med course, be an intern, and then you could hang your shingle. But in the late 80's that changed, and everyone now being a GP has to do a second college degree, just like if you're training to be a surgeon. Now, some of those jobs, or in fact, most of those jobs in the second degree space are controlled by state hospitals. And we need the states on board, and we need the medical colleges to mandate where people can train.

Because we don't- we can't conscript everyone. We've got huge amounts of financial incentive for GP's - the more rural and remote you go, the bigger the incentive becomes. But we are losing a whole generation of that multi-skilled general practitioner, and there are so many different drivers making it harder. But the med schools and the early intern registrar positions in hospitals, if they can be parallel expanded, like we've expanded the med schools, that means you'll have many more people in the health workforce at a critical time when they're settling down and moving on to their long-term career. And we're expanding these opportunities and expanding the incentives.

But as you can appreciate, now that you have to do two or three degrees before you hang your shingle up, you know, graduating and settling down doctors can be 35 when they finish this pipeline of training. Whereas when I finished as a doctor, you know, in the 80s, I was 25 when I could hang my shingle and go anywhere. So I was a lot more mobile. And it is working well, it's just- it's a long time to get this workforce. But we always look at ways to improve it.

STEVE PRICE:

Well, it's a pleasure to catch up with you as usual. And it's great the debate is on and we're having it. Thanks a lot. Have a good weekend.

MINISTER GILLESPIE:

Okay. Thanks, Steve.

STEVE PRICE:

Dr David Gillespie, the Regional Health Minister- Federal Regional Health Minister.