Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says patient care in NT hospitals will always be based on health needs, not race or other personal attributes.

It comes after reports Melbourne’s St Vincent Hospital is prioritising seeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients over others in the emergency department, specifically within 30 minutes of their arrival.

The Chief told Katie Woolf health professionals are trained to triage patients, saying the approach in Melbourne will undermine confidence in the health system and may cause people to not seek treatment.

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