Transcript of Interview Drive with Ian Henschke, ABC 891 Adelaide, 13 January 2011: Federal Government assistance for Queensland flood victims
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Previous MinistersHOST: First, to our local Member of Parliament, for the seat of Port Adelaide. He has a lot on his plate at the moment. He is not only the federal Minister for Mental Health, but he is also acting Minister for Health and Ageing. Joining us now is Mark Butler - good afternoon, Mark Butler.
BUTLER: Good afternoon, Ian.
HOST: Now this is one of the biggest health issues I think anyone could face. What are the major issues that you are dealing with at the moment?
BUTLER: Well, the scale of this disaster, as you say, is just mind-boggling, and the health implications that come from a disaster like this equally are very, very significant. Not only, obviously, the tragic loss of life and the serious injury that some have suffered, particularly in the Lockyer Valley, but there is the potential for widespread significant health implications, which we at a Commonwealth level are very conscious of.
So yesterday we activated the National Incident Room, which is, I guess, an emergency response to make sure that we are providing all the support that we can, particularly with the Queensland health authorities, but also to help professionals on the ground - GPs, allied health professionals, pharmacists - to make sure that the health of Queensland, as far as possible, is looked after.
There are some particular areas of responsibility we also have at a Commonwealth level. One of the things that your listeners probably will have thought of is that people who need medicines may well have lost their scripts, their Medicare cards, their concession cards. Their pharmacist that they usually go to might well be flood-affected themselves. So we have put arrangements in place to make sure that people are able to go to any pharmacy - with or without their cards or their scripts - and get the medicines that they need on an emergency basis for the next several days.
We are also liaising with GPs, through our Commonwealth Medical Officer, our Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop, who I'm talking with regularly to make sure that they have everything they need. And we are putting in place arrangements for the long-term mental health of Queenslanders, as well.
We know from previous disasters that there are emergency counselling needs that people have, particularly family members who are suffering grief. But there are quite broad, long-term implications that people have for long-term psychological support, which can go on for weeks and months.
So today I have announced some extra funding arrangements to make sure that when the time comes - which will be fairly soon, we imagine - those people who need ongoing psychological support will be able to access it. And we are already in contact with the coordinators of that support, which are the Divisions of General Practice, to make sure that that will be available.
HOST: Now look, Minister, we have seen that hospitals, by the way, in Brisbane, were closed at one stage, and of course hospitals in the regional areas have been affected too. Is there any need for any support? We have seen SES volunteers, and people who go up like that; are you looking for volunteers, say from South Australia: nurses, doctors, any of those sorts of people? Do you need help for that?
BUTLER: Well, we are monitoring that situation very closely, but the last discussion I had with the Chief Medical Officer - a couple of hours ago - indicated that the hospitals are coping. I have also seen a statement from the Queensland Health Minister, of a couple of hours ago, as well.
They are certainly doing it tough, but they have all got their own independent electricity supplies, obviously, through generation. So those hospitals in areas that have been cut off are still able to operate. The hospitals have had to cancel elective surgery, unless it is particularly urgent, so that they can free up beds that are needed.
But the real challenge, I think, hospitals are having, according to my advice, is the staff there are incredibly overworked. They are doing an incredible job to deliver the services they need to, to Queenslanders.
A lot of them in the Ipswich area I know, for example, west of Brisbane, are cut off from their own homes. So, in many cases, it's things like ensuring that there are - there is accommodation for hospital workers and other health workers who are cut off from their own homes and things like that.
But the situation we're told at the moment is that hospitals are coping, but we're certainly monitoring it very, very closely.
HOST: Now it's 22 minutes past five. You're listening to the Acting Health Minister and Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, South Australian Member of Federal Parliament, who's got a lot on his plate at the moment.
We've seen emergency workers and police from interstate coming into relieve locals. Are you saying that we don't need to send doctors and nurses to help out as well?
BUTLER: Well, what we're doing is monitoring the situation. Jim Bishop, our Chief Medical Officer is having a hook-up, I think, with all of the chief medical officers around the country tomorrow. So I prefer to leave it for them to make a professional assessment of that. And in the event that Queensland does need some help from South Australia, I can tell you that message will be very loudly sent to Mike Rann and to John Hill and other health authorities.
HOST: Okay, now I think that…
BUTLER: I haven't received that yet, but we're monitoring it almost on a few hour by few hour basis.
HOST: Now, of course, the issue of the elderly and the way they're being helped with at the moment, I mean you must have a lot of issues on your plate there because we've said - I mean we saw in Toowoomba there was old folk's homes where people were being moved out of them. What's happening to these people, some of who I imagine are frail of mind as well as frail of body and they're being picked up and moved away from the area? Do you know what's going on with that?
BUTLER: We do. We're monitoring it very closely. As the Minister for Ageing, which I am permanently, I make sure that our department monitors every one of the 2800 aged care facilities around the country, to ensure that they have proper evacuation policies, particularly in the event of natural disaster.
At the moment - last time I looked, which was some hours ago, there were 11 aged care facilities that had been evacuated in Queensland, as well as one in northern New South Wales. All of those people as far as I'm advised, have been able to be relocated to an appropriate area.
Now that really depends on their level of need. Many, particularly the more frail, will have to go to either a hospital bed, or an aged care facility in a dry area that has available beds. We've identified several hundred of those. And at the moment, through the very hard work of aged care staff and ambulances and a range of other health workers who are relocating these people, we're confident that older people in the flood-affected areas are having their needs looked after. But again, we're monitoring it almost on an hour by hour basis.
HOST: Now it's just coming up to 25 minutes past five. I'm talking to Acting Health Minister and the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler.
Now on the issue of mental health, the people of Queensland in the coming days and weeks are going to be going through quite a lot of recovery and trauma. What's the Government going to do to help with that side of things?
BUTLER: Well, people who need counselling services right now have them available through either the Queensland Health Department, or also some of the organisations well-known to your listeners like Lifeline. The head of beyondblue rang me a few hours ago to say that they're willing to do their bit. A kid's helpline for some of the children who are suffering right now.
But in the longer term, which is really as the recovery process starts and, in many cases, as the grieving process really settles in, we know that from previous natural disasters that we've suffered in Australia, there is the need to make available extra psychological counselling services. So we already made some changes recently to the existing programs to fund those services through Medicare, to ensure that more were available in the event of disaster.
But in addition to those recent changes, I've announced today that $1.3 million of funding, to fund additional services that we expect to be needed over coming weeks and months. And again, we'll monitor that pretty closely to see whether or not that money satisfies the need that is going to inevitably emerge from this disaster.
HOST: Well, thank you very much for your time this afternoon, Mark Butler, Acting Federal Health Minister and Minister for Mental Health and Ageing. Thanks for your time.
BUTLER: Thanks Ian.
(ends)
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