Overview
There are a total of five public hospitals in the Northern Territory. These are:
- Royal Darwin Hospital
- Alice Springs Hosptial
- Katherine Hospital
- Tennant Creek Hospital
- Gove District Hospital
The hospitals provide general services ranging from primary screening and prevention to acute and chronic care. But with issues such as remoteness, a scattered population and the absence of alternative health care providers, hospitals in the Northern Territory also provide a series of non-acute services to their communities.
The five public hospitals are grouped into two Hospital Networks.
Top End Hospital Network
The Top End Hospital Network consists of Royal Darwin, Gove and Katherine Hospitals.
Central Australian Hospital Network
The Central Australian Hospital Network links Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Hospitals.
Both Northern Territory Hospital Networks will be run as Government Business Divisions sitting within the Department of Health (DoH).
This will mean that the Department of Health continues to be the system manager or "parent" of the NT's hospitals, but the Networks will focus on agreed service delivery and will be required to have separate and transparent financial reporting.
The change to a structure with greater financial transparency is a requirement of the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA).
As Government Business Divisions, the Hospital Networks will be part of DoH and therefore continue to use corporate support and other services as part of the Department.
Governing Councils
Another requirement of the NHRA is the creation of Governing Councils to oversee the performance of the Hospital Network and bring community representation into hospital governance.
Governing Councils will replace the existing hospital boards, which currently report to the Minister for Health. The new Governing Councils have been established via legislation and will also report to the Minister for Health. There will be one Governing Council for each Hospital Network in the NT.
The Minister for Health has appointed members and Chairs of the Top End and Central Australian Hospital Network Governing Councils.
Top End Hospital Network Governing Council Members
Mr Colin McDonald (Chairperson), Ms Jennifer Peers, Mr James Sullivan, Mrs Anne Shepherd, Ms Patricia Angus, Mr John Paterson, Ms Diane Walsh, Mr Ross Springolo, Dr Tamsin Cockayne.
Central Australian Hospital Network Governing Council
Professor John Wakerman (Chairperson), Dr Bruce Simmons, Mrs Joyce Measures, Mr Damien Ryan, Ms Dale Wakefield, Dr Liz Moore, Mr Elliot McAdam, Ms Helen Kilgariff.
For more information on Governing Councils, see link below
Darwin is also the base for the Northern Territory Clinical School (NTCS). The school trains and provides placement opportunities for medical students from Flinders University and James Cook University. Additional campuses are located in Alice Springs, Katherine and Nhulunbuy to train students in a rural environment.
