An NT Health executive representing the Royal Darwin and Palmerston hospitals has apologised to 100 junior doctors over a memo warning them that they would be blacklisted if they breach their contracts by leaving before their terms were up.

Acting deputy director of medical services at RDH and Palmerston Hospital, Dr Colin Feekery who wrote the controversial letter on October 3, and executive director of hospitals Dr Didier Palmer, met with the Doctors-in-Training (DiT) and the Australian Salaried Medical Officers’ Federation Northern Territory (ASMOF NT) on Tuesday to discuss grievances currently encountered by the medical front-liners.

ASMOF NT president Dr Thomas Fowles said the junior doctors have welcomed Dr Feekery’s apology for the letter which they earlier called “poisonous to the culture of an organisation” that had “caused harm to both our colleagues and the reputation of the organization.”

Dr Feekery had written the letter days after the last code yellow was ordered at RDH.

“I have instructed our Medical Services Unit and our locum recruitment service, that if a doctor fails to complete a contract, this is to be recorded on their Human Resources file,” he wrote.

The group said Dr Feekery had personally retracted his statements in the letter in full during the meeting.

“We’re pleased that Dr Feekery has withdrawn and apologised for his initial letter regarding resignations,” Dr Fowles said.

ASMOF NT said Dr Palmer and the executive team were also present to hear the grievances of the DiT group.

“It was reassuring to see [Dr] Palmer engage with front-line doctors and recognise that improvements need to be made, we consider this an excellent first step,” Dr Fowles said.

The meeting had laid out the junior doctors’ grievances with the hospital system, including not providing adequate training opportunities, rostering practices and leave availability that needs improving, as well as problems with the recruitment process for new doctors.

ASMOF NT said the hospital executives agreed to meet further with the doctors to fully understand and rectify these issues.

The executive also offered support to include some of these areas within the Enterprise Agreement which is currently being negotiated.

“We will continue to watch for improvements to the working conditions of doctors,” Dr Fowles said.

“Territorians deserve excellent health care, and that can only be provided if we have a stable and professional medical workforce.”

Health Minister says government actively recruiting overseas health staff, no numbers offered

Health Minister Natasha Fyles said earlier in the week that she did not agree with Dr Feekery’s letter, but said that it’s “a very operational matter.”

“I think that it was sent with good intentions, but I don’t think they’re highlighting the hard work, how difficult it’s been, and we all know the challenges – no I don’t agree with the tone of that letter,” Ms Fyles told Mix104.9.

“I’m not disputing that junior doctors don’t leave the system because of stress and anxiety but what we do see is towards the end of placement, people have got positions in other institutions and jurisdictions, and this is not just within Australia.

“Doctors in Melbourne, for example, might leave to head home to the UK, and so we do see in that lead up to the end of the year because these contracts tend to go January to January, we do tend to see people leave which provides a burden to the system.”

Ms Fyles also refused to disclose the number of medical staff recruited despite calls from medical groups to immediately address NT’s medical health crisis.

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation NT (ANMF NT) branch secretary Cath Hatcher said last week around 100 nurses would be needed from overseas to fill job shortages, suggesting the recruitment needs to be done immediately.

Australian Medical Association NT (AMA NT) president Dr Robert Parker supported the idea of importing health professionals from overseas to expedite getting trained nursing staff on board, the same way fruit pickers were flown from the Pacific to help with NT’s mango harvest.

Ms Fyles said she is still working with the Commonwealth Government to fast-track visa approvals for overseas doctors, nurses, and midwives to “make sure those people get visas to enter the country.”

Last Friday, she said approximately 50 to 70 nurses are needed in three hospital categories to fill the gap in staff shortages mostly in the emergency post operative and psychiatric care.

“We certainly have got a recruitment campaign, [NT] Health have been really focused on this over the last few weeks and I’m advised that we are seeing some success,” she said.

However, when asked how many have been recruited by the NT Health as of the moment, Ms Fyles repeatedly avoided answering the question.

No target date was provided for getting the 50-70 staff on board.

Meanwhile, CLP Health critic Bill Yan this morning said it was concerning the government was only advertising for 50 nurses jobs when the need to combat the current health crisis was far greater.

“What’s even more concerning than the shortfall in advertising is that more than 60 per cent of advertised vacancies are for nurses on fixed term contracts. That doesn’t provide certainty and stability for any specialist health workers considering relocating to the Territory,” he said.

“We support ongoing permanent healthcare positions, rather than fixed term contracts, so that we can provide that certainty to health professionals looking to relocate.