00:00Thousands of First Nations Territorians come through the doors of Royal Darwin Hospital,
00:07but a recent qualitative study interviewing patients has identified key barriers to care.
00:12It's a very foreign environment, let alone the communication and the Western dominantly built institutions.
00:20And then they leave and then it's incomplete care and then their health decline and pretty much die, people die.
00:28Annual data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show First Nations people in the Northern Territory
00:34are continuing to die at the highest rates of any Australian jurisdiction
00:38and nearly three times the rate of non-Indigenous Territorians.
00:42No surprise for experts who've long drawn attention to the alarming burden of chronic disease amongst First Nations people.
00:49We have seen significant reduction in particularly early onset heart attack
00:57and we have seen significant improvement in life expectancy for both Aboriginal men and women.
01:05Meantime, remote clinics are warning conditions like these are contributing to serious struggles
01:10attracting and retaining staff amid regional workforce shortages nationwide.
01:15Which is not great for the community and it's not great for their Aboriginal colleagues in the clinic.
01:22We don't have any brilliant ideas at the moment.
01:25We are definitely looking at alternative models of care.
01:30The ABC asked the NT government about its plans to improve health outcomes for Indigenous Territorians
01:36and address staff turnover at remote clinics and access to culturally appropriate care.
01:41They said they were committed to empowering communities at a local level to address the social determinants of health.
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