The Northern Territory inquest into an Indigenous teenager’s shooting death has highlighted the significant struggle regional and remote areas of Australia have in attracting and retaining medical staff.
The Kumanjayi Walker inquest this week heard from on-the-ground nursing staff that the Yuendumu health clinic was empty, clinic nurses “feared for their safety” and police used attending nurses as “decoys” on the night of the shooting. The coroner was told of the unrest in the wake of the tragedy.
But the inquest also heard of the bigger issue of high nursing vacancy rates that often resulted in a lack of proper medical attention in remote communities such as Yuendumu.
On Thursday, NT Health’s central Australia regional executive director, Naomi Heinrich, told the coroner there were “significant” struggles in attracting and retaining staff in the region.
“In central Australia itself, we have a nursing vacancy rate of 23%,” she said. “In primary healthcare, we have a vacancy rate of 27%; in mental health, unfortunately, a vacancy rate of 42%; and in acute care services, 20%.”
Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri man, died after he was shot three times by Const Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest on 9 November 2019. The police officer was found not guilty of murder earlier this year.
The inquest into Walker’s death resumed on Monday with remote nurses, NT health officials and experts giving evidence for the first time.
The court heard evidence that nurses were traumatised and one sustained a head injury from a rock thrown into the ambulance on the night of Walker’s death.
Nurse Lorraine Walcott and another health worker were called to Yuendumu, from Yuelumu – about 45 minutes’ drive away – after they had been told by police there had been a shooting.
Walcott said she arrived just after 9pm and once inside the police station, she checked on Walker, who was in a police holding cell with medical paraphernalia around him after police gave aid.
“He was lifeless. There was no rise or fall of the chest to indicate his breathing. We were close enough to see that his eyes were – and I apologise here to the family – his eyes were staring and his pupils were fixed and dilated,” Walcott told the coroner.
The nurse said she then turned her attention to treating Rolfe’s injury, telling the court he was “quiet and possibly a little bit shocked”.
Walcott said shortly afterwards she was told by Sgt Julie Frost to follow police in a convoy between police vehicles to the airstrip a short distance away.
“All I remember is hearing we’re going in a convoy, possibly I heard the words ‘as a decoy’, but I don’t know what they meant,” she said.
Walcott said the pair waited at the airstrip for about 10 minutes before seeing that the police cars had driven off without them.
Walcott said while the crowd was milling about wanting answers and were generally calm, there were occasional rocks being thrown – one of which hit the ambulance window.
“It just seemed like some sort of explosion and then I felt blood dripping down and was trying to veer off the road to avoid running over someone, because I was in shock, injured and didn’t know what was happening,” Walcott told the court.
The inquest heard that, despite her experiences, Walcott “loved” remote nursing and that working in remote communities was rewarding.
But the inquest heard first-hand about the systemic issues and a severe lack of resources.
On Thursday clinic staff, including Dr Amy Rosser and nurse Sally Halton, agreed that attracting and retaining medical staff was challenging due to “negative” perceptions of Yuendumu.
“It’s pretty hard – almost impossible,” Halton said.
Both said despite negative media portrayals, they had never felt unsafe in the community. But their evidence was in contrast to that of Cassandra Holland, a remote nurse posted to the clinic at the time of the shooting. She had worked at the clinic for less than six months.
Holland said that she felt “unsafe” and was told by senior nursing staff not to walk around the community.
“We weren’t encouraged to walk outside the clinic. We were encouraged to stay within the confines of our yard, or to get – and not even to walk to – walk to the health service,” Holland said.
The nurse went on to say that she feared she would be “taken down” by roaming dogs.
“You would get taken down by the dogs. My neighbour wouldn’t leave his house, unless he had a massive big stick with him.” she said.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Peggy Dwyer, warned Holland to be “careful” with her words and said she had walked around the community without fear.
“I’ve walked around Yuendumu plenty of times and I haven’t had to beat off dogs and I haven’t felt frightened,” Dwyer said. She asked Holland why she felt afraid, with Holland replying she couldn’t describe it but that she “had a fear in Yuendumu”.
Despite what Holland said were challenges she experienced, she said the withdrawal of nursing staff went against her training as a nurse and she was concerned about leaving the community without medical staff.
“I had a very strong discussion … about leaving the clinic – leaving the community, just leaving the community total. It went against everything that I’ve ever learned,” Holland told the coroner.
Heinrich summed up the problems succinctly.
“It is challenging for people to relocate with their families to those communities in terms of service availability,” she said.
“It is hot, dry, there are limited services available for people in those communities.”
