Two federal NT politicians support calls for the Gunner Government to recruit much-needed nurses and health professionals to the NT from overseas to help ease the growing health crisis at Territory hospitals, but have offered no practical assistance to make that happen.

Labor Member for Solomon Luke Gosling and CLP Senator Sam McMahon separately took to radio Monday morning to say they support looking at ways to recruit health workers from overseas after critical staff shortages at Royal Darwin Hospital have resulted in four code yellows this year, including two last month, cancelling elective surgeries.

Mr Gosling said getting more nurses to the NT from overseas was an “important idea”.

“So many people in our community have reflected on the fact that not only are we burning some of our people out, but we’re really feeling the effects not only of those UK nurses that (Health) Minister (Natasha Fyles) mentioned, but also I think at one point there was half of our nurses came from Nepal,” Mr Gosling told ABC Radio.

“So there is an ability … that we can get skilled migrants back into the country through places like Howard Springs and Bladin Village, so that we can have the nurses that we need to look after Territorians. And also … growing our own nurses and allied health professionals here in the Territory. It’s so vital and they’re really good jobs for young Territory kids to do.”

How the NT could attract those workers in the middle of the global pandemic was not discussed.

The issue was raised by the head of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT Cath Hatcher last week, after the latest code yellow at RDH.

Ms Hatcher and AMA NT president Rob Parker both called on the NT Government to focus its recruitment processes by bringing in foreign workers to fill the skill shortage in health, similar to the way it does for fruit pickers.

Ms Hatcher said the pressure on the current staff was becoming unbearable.

Dr Parker also said the federal government should increase funding to the NT Government. However, that idea was rejected by Senator Sam McMahon who said the Gunner Government already receives enough money to run health services.

Ms McMahon said the NT Government was failing to manage its resources appropriately despite being funded “half a billion dollars a year … for health”.

She added the Federal Government supported bringing in healthcare workers from overseas but did not commit to any additional funding or other help to see that happen, only saying the NT Government could contact her to discuss the situation if “they need a hand”.

Ms McMahon also said some of the pressures could be alleviated by rolling out more aged care facilities to take seniors out of the hospital.

“People are suitable to go into aged care that are occupying hospital beds,” she told Mix 104.9.

“I don’t know why it’s taking so long for it to be rolled out. We’ve been allocating funding in places for quite some time (but) the Northern Territory Government seems to be having difficulty converting that funding into reality.”

Ms McMahon called the current situation, that has seen frontline health workers overworked, staff taken from RDH to run the quarantine facility and young doctors threatened with career reprisals should they not fulfill their contracts, “a disaster”.

“It is a disaster at the moment and things are pretty dire,” she said. “I was speaking to a health professional just yesterday and they say basically Darwin is on permanent code yellow, it’s not an unusual thing.”

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said recruiting from overseas is “something we’re looking at” but did not explain how that might work or how healthcare workers would be attracted at this time.