Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I was going to share some time with my colleagues, but I'm not going to let some time stay on the clock. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I am wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services can let us know how many people Stanton can serve through medical detox at one time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. It seems like a theme day here. Minister of Health and Social Services.
I'd like to direct this question to the Minister of Lands. Just kidding. Sorry about the heart attack, Minister.
---Laughter
Mr. Speaker, there are no dedicated rooms for detox at Stanton. The rooms are made available as they are needed and they are made available to people who need medical management while they are withdrawing. For some people, that's a very important step. Withdrawal can be fatal if it's not managed properly. Other requests for medical detox are assessed one at a time. As I mentioned earlier in response to another question, most people actually do not need a medical detox. The vast majority of people do not need it, but there are some people who are very alcohol dependent for whom life and death really depends on a proper detox. Thank you.
If somebody presents at a health centre or a hospital, rather, in another community and wants to go through a medical detox process or if the nursing staff knows that this is somebody who would require medical detox, will that person be medevaced to Yellowknife in order to go through their medical detox here, or would they be able to stay in their home community to do that?
It could go either way, depending on the judgment of the nurse whom the patient sees. It may be necessary, depending on the level of alcohol dependency, to bring that person into Stanton, or they may be able to stay in their own community. I will just say again that the vast majority of people do not need the facilities at Stanton for detox, so it would really be however it's decided on a case-by-case basis.
I have had numerous conversations with constituents who have gone through different portions of treatment for addiction within the Northwest Territories and also outside of the Northwest Territories. One thing that has come up multiple times is the issue of every doctor in the territory not being able to refer somebody for an in-patient treatment facility. I am wondering if this is something that Health and Social Services is looking to change so that, regardless of the doctor who somebody sees, they are able to receive a referral for an in-patient facility.
I need to investigate that further before I can give a proper answer.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that. My next question for the Minister is in regard to protocols of care for people when they present at the emergency department within the Stanton Territorial Hospital. I am wondering if there are protocols for after-care for people once they do arrive at Stanton Territorial Hospital emergency with mental health challenges and if there is a protocol for either the attending physician or the attending healthcare staff or potentially people within primary care to then reach out to that person and to provide follow-up care. Thank you.
There is a medical social worker, at least one, maybe two, at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and they do discharge-planning with people who are leaving the hospital with all kinds of health needs, including mental health needs. The idea of the discharge-planning is to connect that person who is leaving the hospital with other supports that he might need or she might need, whether that is counselling, family physician, or other types of medical and counselling services that are relevant to them. They recommend it; whether the person decides to take that up is really up to them. When we are talking about adults here, the health system does not hound them to attend appointments. They make appointments for them. They may be reminded that they have those appointments. Of course, it's our hope that they obtain the care that they need, but at the end of the day, we can only set everything up; we cannot enforce it. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
