Debates of October 18, 2006 (day 10)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services and it gets back to the status of Stanton Territorial Hospital and what is going on there. You know, these problems are not new. The Minister was the Minister back in 2002 when, in fact, he ordered a review, an operational review, a full operational review to be conducted in the fall of 2002. I mentioned in my Member's statement today that the scenario that played itself out in 2002 is very, very similar to the one that is here today, and the problems haven't gone away. The first question I'd have for the Minister is, according to this operational review that was conducted in 2002, there were a number of recommendations in that review and I'm wondering if the Minister can tell me what recommendations were followed up on, and why are we still having all these difficulties with staffing, especially staffing and morale at that hospital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. A couple of questions there. The Minister can answer one or both. Honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the majority of the recommendations were followed up on. I've asked the department to dig out the last report that was done in terms of reporting on that particular consultant's documents. I'd just like to point out as well that, yes, there are some issues that continue to be of great concern at Stanton, but we've also made significant investments and progress in the services there and I don't believe that they are the same, as extreme as they were back in 2001. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the Minister had the opportunity to attend my constituency meeting two weeks ago, he'd understand that the scenarios and the level of concern at Stanton Hospital is, in fact, probably worse than it was in 2001, 2002, and something, Mr. Speaker, needs to be done. I'd like to ask the Minister, there's been some talk of a staffing review. We did an operational review in 2002. Recently, in April of this year, we've gone and done another staffing review of the same facility. I'm just wondering where exactly is this phantom staffing review. I've heard rumours that there's a draft of it somewhere. Where is it and what are you going to do to address the staffing issues at Stanton Hospital? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we did a review of all hospital facilities across the Northwest Territories, we worked with Dr. Peache and the medical association to look at do we have the appropriate mix of doctors, not only Stanton but in all the other health facilities that have doctors. As we were doing that, it quickly became clear that we also needed a similar kind of review done with the nursing complement as well in Inuvik, Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River and Simpson. So that review is looking at all those particular facilities to make sure that the mix is right for the type of services provided, for the type of shift work coverage that's required, and for the level of care that's provided in the different communities. There is a draft that has been done. It was reviewed and there were some gaps to the point where it was felt that it wasn't appropriate to release it until we had a complete document, and that work is now in its final stages. I have now just received a copy of the initial rough draft. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but the intention is to have that done by next month. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Ms. Lee, made a point that it's not just the front-line nursing staff here. We're talking about maintenance, we're talking about laundry, we're talking about cleanliness, the janitorial, we're talking about top to bottom. There's something wrong at Stanton Hospital. The Minister has been the Minister of Health of Social Services for five years. Some of these problems, to me, are very systemic. Why can't something be done with the morale at this hospital and this institution that provides such a valuable service to this community and this territory? Why is it taking five years and why are we going to have to do another study? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's also a lot of things that are right in Stanton, and I think there is a lot of good work being done. I've committed to the Member from Range Lake that we will set up a process where there can be consultation with the front-line workers to get feedback unit by unit on issues that may be out there. We are addressing a lot of the issues. For example, the janitorial contract has recently been rewritten and the standards increased. That is in the works. So we continue to work on this on a regular basis. This is not only a staffing review that's taking place in Stanton, but we're looking to make sure we have the adequate staffing complements in all the places that have hospitals and doctors, and it is a fairly complex undertaking. But like a lot of the work that was done with the facilities review, it's very important to get that work done in terms of how we define beds, the number of acute care beds, the number of community service beds, and we're doing all that work and it has lead to a lot of the decisions that have been made to tie in the long-term care as well as the development of what health services and hospital services are provided in the various communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask the Minister, when exactly can we expect a report or a status report on where this work is at? I thought I heard him say two weeks, but what are we going to get in two weeks? This is something that needs urgent, urgent action; tomorrow. There is going to be a major incident at this hospital, whether it's with an employee or whether it's with a client and it's going to happen if we don't do something about it. So I'd like to ask the Minister when. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 127-15(5): Operational Issues At The Stanton Territorial Hospital

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has an obligation to raise the issues with his constituents, and my responsibility as Minister is to look at that and make sure that we respond to circumstances and to issues in a very measured and careful way. We are doing that. I've committed to the Member for Range Lake that we would have an outline of how we intend to proceed to honour the commitment to have the staff consulted in a free and open environment where they could get full feedback, and we would provide the preliminary feedback that we are getting within two weeks. So it's within that time frame we're looking at in regards to that particular feedback on the issues that the Members have had raised to them in their constituency meetings here in the last number of weeks. Thank you.