Executives of the Northern Territory's beleaguered health department have been put on notice after its annual budget blew out by more than $200 million.
The figures were laid bare in the latest NT budget, which showed the substantial overspend by the health department taking its costs to nearly $2.2 billion for 2023-24.
Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the blowout to the health budget was of "great concern" at a time when the territory faces more than $11 billion in net debt and rising.
"They need to work on getting their budget back into a better position," Ms Lawler said.
"Before the end of the financial year they'll need to make some changes."
Ms Lawler was asked if senior executives would be reprimanded over the budget blowout, as has previously been the government's policy, but did not confirm if this would happen.
"It is a tough area in health to keep your budget under control, but that's the role of the CEO to keep health's budget under control," Ms Lawler said.
Call for more Commonwealth funding
Health is one of the most challenging portfolios in the territory due to the large amount of chronically ill patients and aging infrastructure at the NT's largest medical facility, Royal Darwin Hospital.
Since COVID-19, there have also been consistent struggles with attracting and retaining frontline health workers, with the department instead forced to rely on costly agency staff and loc*ms.
An NT Health spokesperson said there were "a number of reasons spending has increased in the NT".
"[These include] significant growth in the demand for services, challenges recruiting to skilled healthcare roles and a rise in costs across the supply chain for service provision," they said.
"NT Health continues to review and reform our health service to ensure we provide a high quality health system for all territorians within the approved budget envelope."
Ms Lawler said "we should be getting more money" for health from the Commonwealth.
"We have a sicker population, we have vast distances, we need more money," she said.
Lawler's comments criticised by unions
The NT branches of the Australian Medical Association (AMA NT), the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF NT) and the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation (ASMOF NT) have all criticised the comments by Ms Lawler.
Thomas Fowles, of ASMOF NT, came to the defence of NT Health CEO Marco Briceno over the spending, saying he was the fourth person in the top job over the past five years.
"Firing health leadership is not going to solve the ongoing failures of territory and Commonwealth governments," Mr Fowles said.
"ASMOF NT suggests that the health minister support Dr Briceno to do his job, and get red tape out of the way of clinicians attempting to deliver safe and efficient health care."
AMA NT presidentRobert Parker said it was "very unfair criticism of the department".
"I don't think any CEO at the moment would be able to reign in spending in a department that's constantly beset by crises, by code yellows, by incredibly high activity levels," he said.
ANMF NT branch secretary Cath Hatcher said many territory nurses and midwives were choosing to work in nursing agencies rather than full-time for the department of health due to the work and pay conditions.
"If the NT government budgeted properly for the department of health they wouldn't be 'overspending'," Ms Hatcher said in a statement.
Social services sector unhappy with budget
Tuesday's territory budget has also left some in the social services sector unhappy.
Caitlin Weatherby-Fell, the CEO of the Top End Women's Legal Service in Darwin, said funding for critical domestic, family and sexual violence services fell short of what was needed.
The budget papers allocated $70 million towards domestic violence in the NT — where rates were Australia's highest – but Ms Weatherby-Fell said only $30 million of that was new money.
"It doesn't give a whole lot of hope for the sector which is crying out for funding right now for frontline services to be able to be meeting levels of demand for women and their children escaping DV," she said.
Sally Sievers, the CEO for the NT Council of Social Services, said while the budget tipped massive amounts into crime and policing, more funding was needed for early intervention.
"It provides a false sense of security to Territorians that community safety will be achieved only by more police and prisons," she said.
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