Debates of October 25, 2006 (day 15)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland. It is in follow-up to Ms. Lee’s questions. The Minister was here last week when I was questioning the former Minister of Health and Social Services on a meeting that I had with 17 constituents here in Yellowknife who brought to my attention a number of issues, patient safety, staff safety, and staffing in general at Stanton. Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing, after making those comments in this House last week, from other health centres in Inuvik, Fort Smith and Hay River, that some of these issues are prevalent in other health centres as well, not just Stanton Hospital here in Yellowknife. The former Minister said that it would take two weeks to get a redraft of the staffing report that was done in April that went to the department. Obviously, it wasn’t good enough or it didn’t say what the department wanted to say. It went back to the drafters or the consultant for a redraft. I would like to know exactly when we are going to get a copy of this staffing report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Roland.

Return To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can’t give the Member an exact date of when the report will be brought forward. I was part of the discussion or listening to the commitment made by the previous Minister in this area. As I stated earlier to Ms. Lee, it will be our duty to follow up on that to ensure that the information does come forward in a timely fashion. There has been much work done that we have to look at and pull together. But I believe there was a commitment made already. Again, I have confirmed today that we will bring that forward and deal with that. It is easy enough to say that there are difficulties within the territory in the delivery of health care services. The more difficult thing is how are we going to work together to ensure that we provide the adequate level of service to all residents? I think we have gone a long way in trying to meet those needs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my mind, and judging by the comments I have heard, the e-mails I have got, and the telephone calls that I have taken on this issue, I don’t think the government is listening to the front-line health care professionals here in the Northwest Territories. It is obvious to me that there are problems, especially in the area of staffing. When management says that the front-line worker is expendable, that causes me a great deal of concern. This is happening far too often. I think we run the risk of losing a lot of our front-line staff here if we don’t take some immediate action to try to address this concern. I am not sure who is going to be the next Minister responsible for Health, but in the meantime, the Minister responsible today, I would like to ask him if he would entertain getting together some Regular Members from this side of the House to actually go out and do some of the work and listen to the concerns that are out there, because I think people want somebody to listen. Management is not doing it. We are here. I will certainly make myself available to do that, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am not prepared at this stage to have a committee of Regular Members and myself or a joint committee of members and Ministers go through a political process of questioning staff and putting them under that situation. In fact, I believe an employee survey was used in 2002, if I have the dates right or the year right of an employment survey done on an independent process. I think that would be the more appropriate tool to use.

As the Government of the Northwest Territories on the human resource side, dealing with the front-line workers, we have done a lot to try and alleviate the problems. It is not 100 percent, but we have gone a long way. The use of agency nurses to cover our shortages and that is not the best response but that is a response that we have been able to do. Recruitment of nurses, we have now a unit within Human Resources to deal with that. Community Health Nurse Development Program has been put into place. Graduate Nurse Placement Program, the guarantees of jobs for those graduates here in the Northwest Territories, Nurse Practitioner Education Leave Bursary Program, Physician Program and bursaries that we have available. We have done what we can to try and meet the needs out there and deal with front-line service issues. We are not going to be able to take care of it all at once, but we are working to ensure that we are dealing with them respectfully. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I respect the Minister and what he has brought to the table here today. There are a number of programs out there. I am not talking about programs. I am talking about our front-line staff who want to be able to have someone to listen to their concerns and act on them. You can have all of the programs you want, but if you are not listening to your staff, there are going to be difficulties and such as I mentioned earlier, patient safety and especially staff safety. There are a number of areas of concern here. I would like the Minister to again make a commitment that he will go out, if he is, in fact, the next Minister of Health and Social Services of the government, whoever it is going to be. Somebody has to go out. Somebody has to listen before we lose any more front-line health care workers in this territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree; we have to listen to the front-line workers. We have to listen to, whether it is on the health side, social services side, the teachers’ side, people that deliver the programs that we discuss in this Assembly, those people that are on the front lines delivering that to meet the needs of our residents. We have to pay attention to what is being said out there. But at the same time, we have a responsibility to ensure that we are doing it at a level that is acceptable throughout the territory. That brings its own challenges. We also have to deal with boards out there that have impact on the delivery of those programs. We have to work with them. Ultimately, it all comes down to the dollars we have available to deliver the program in the Northwest Territories. That is always a challenge that we try to deal with as an Assembly. Thank you.

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

Supplementary To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister why he is so quick to say a group of Regular Members couldn’t work in conjunction with the ministry of Health and Social Services to go out to Inuvik, Fort Smith, Hay River and Yellowknife here at Stanton and actually talk to the front-line workers and come up with a game plan how to address the issues that are there and are real. I would like to ask him that question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Further Return To Question 188-15(5): Stanton Territorial Hospital Human Resource Survey

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member for a number of assemblies now. I have seen the committees put together. I have seen the results of them. We have come up with some positive changes in a number of areas. Ultimately, if it does become my full-time responsibility in this field, I want to make myself comfortable with the file as to what work has been done. For example, I know, under the previous Minister, that a Joint Leadership Committee between all health boards and the department has been formed. They have put together a strategic plan. That would be, I think, some of the things we need to ensure we get on with and ensure that we bring to completion, because I have also been part of governments where a lot of work has been done and shelved. Really, we don’t change anything. That is not what we want to be about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.