Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that its operational practices align with the principles of the new Mental Health Act.
That the Department of Health and Social Services review its clinical standards and protocols for the release of voluntary patients, including the use of risk-assessment screening tools and provision of follow-up care.
That the Department of Health and Social Services renew its efforts to recruit and retain front-line mental health workers, targeting positions with long-standing vacancies.
That the Department of Health and Social Services guarantee access to safe and affordable housing for front-line workers as a way of strengthening recruitment and retention.
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure appropriate housing is available for patients being discharged from designated facilities, including patients receiving psychiatric care under community treatment plans.
That the Department of Health and Social Services strengthen efforts to re-establish a residential addictions treatment facility for the Northwest Territories or establish a pan-territorial facility.
That the Department of Health and Social Services expand its outreach, ensuring that health care workers provide services in remote communities on a more frequent basis.
That the Department of Health and Social Services offer mobile treatment services.
That the Department of Health and Social Services introduce a comprehensive after-care and relapse prevention program for use by counsellors across the Northwest Territories, based on the model developed by Shepell, a national mental health organization.
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that individuals with a criminal record for a violent or sexual offence are not denied access to southern residential treatment facilities.
That the Department of Health and Social Services work with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to develop “integrated community plans” for Aurora College students who have mental health issues.
That the Department of Health and Social Services collaborate with other GNWT departments to offer cultural camps and on-the-land programs, focusing on mental health, healing, and traditional Aboriginal knowledge.
That the Department of Health and Social Services provide respite services for family members who are providing care for mentally ill family members.
That the Department of Health and Social Services employ local health care staff or lay dispensers in communities in order to increase patients’ compliance in taking prescription medication.
That the Department of Health and Social Services provide a mechanism for hearing the concerns of patients and their advocates regarding prescription medication, focusing on measures to offset negative side effects.
That the Department of Health and Social Services review its official languages protocol to ensure that patients are receiving interpretation services as required.
That the Department of Health and Social Services introduce job sharing and part-time options for mental health workers in order to reduce the risk of burnout and make front-line positions more attractive.
That the Department of Health and Social Services adopt an approach that relies on therapy and counselling as a viable alternative to prescription medication.
That the Department of Health and Social Services hire additional psychiatrists in order to reduce lengthy wait times.
That the Department of Health and Social Services hire a dedicated psychiatrist to address the needs of children, adolescents and youth.
That the Department of Health and Social Services simplify job titles for front-line mental health workers so that workers will be more approachable.
That the Department of Health and Social Services strengthen its services for seniors who are experiencing dementia or Alzheimer’s.
That the Department of Health and Social Services hire additional medical social workers who can provide services at the intersection of mental health, counselling and social services.
That the Department of Health and Social Services work with community agencies, non-profit organizations and local churches to establish safe spaces where people with mental health issues can gather and receive support.
25.
That the Department of Health and Social Services provide à la carte options which communities may use to support the implementation of assisted community treatment.
26.
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that psychiatrists, medical doctors and other health care workers receive appropriate training in the use of assisted community treatment.
27. That the Government of the Northwest Territories take measures to limit the liability of people who agree to monitor an ACT patient.
That the Government of the Northwest Territories take stronger measures to address homelessness among residents who have mental health and addiction issues, looking to the success of “Housing First” initiatives in other parts of Canada.
That the Department of Health and Social Services expand its suicide prevention efforts across the Northwest Territories, ensuring the use of culturally appropriate messaging.
That the Department of Health and Social Services develop, and widely disseminate, a protocol for small-community residents on steps to be taken when someone has committed suicide or when someone is threatening to commit suicide or engaging in self-harm.
That the Government of the Northwest Territories adopt a proactive approach, providing training for community leaders and GNWT employees in Mental Health First Aid or Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), so that more people are alert to signs of trouble, equipped to intervene and able to prevent situations from escalating.
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that front-line workers are appropriately trained in the use of valid, reliable, evidence-based screening tools for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, schizophrenia, suicidal ideation and other mental disorders.
That the Department of Health and Social Services develop and implement a stand-alone, multi-departmental strategy and action plan for addressing the mental health needs of youth and adolescents, drawing on proven methods, programs and expertise in other jurisdictions.
That the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that child protection workers, social workers and school attendance counsellors are placed in schools, recognizing that K-12 schools are natural and effective settings for early intervention.
That the Department of Health and Social Services appoint a lawyer as the chair of the review board.
That the Government of the Northwest Territories ensure that peace officers receive cultural-competency training in the use of force, including mechanical means or medication, for apprehending, conveying, detaining or controlling individuals under this act.
That the Department of Health and Social Services provide training for all authorized persons who apprehend, convey, detain or control individuals under this act.
That the Department of Health and Social Services post sample applications online to guide people who are preparing applications to the review board.
That the Department of Health and Social Services collaborate with the Department of Justice to ensure that a psychiatrist or qualified psychologist assesses potential clients for dangerous-offender status prior to inclusion in the Domestic Violence Treatment Options (DVTO) diversion program.
That the Department of Health and Social Services specify the purpose of the registry in the regulations.
That the Department of Health and Social Services include a description of the purpose of the registry in its plain-language communication materials.
That the Department of Health and Social Services stipulate in regulations that only pertinent information from certificates be entered into the registry, in accordance with Section 28 of the Health Information Act, which states that personal health information must not be used if non-identifying information is adequate for the intended purpose.
That the Department of Health and Social Services regularly remind peace officers and other authorized persons of their duty to respect the confidentiality of patient information.
That the Department of Health and Social Services inform patients who receive services outside the Northwest Territories that they are subject to privacy laws in outside jurisdictions rather than privacy laws of the Northwest Territories.
That the Department of Health and Social Services consult with the Standing Committee on Social Programs, key stakeholders and the public on the development of regulations.
That the Department of Health and Social Services provide training for staff on the new legislation, highlighting relevant sections of the Act and regulations, and giving direction on required procedures.
That the Department of Health and Social Services develop an agreement with the RCMP regarding their role under the new Mental Health Act, including cultural-competency training for RCMP officers.
That the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that the new act harmonizes with the requirements of the Wellness Court Diversion Program.
That the Department of Health and Social Services establish in regulations that an Aboriginal chief may serve as a peace officer.
That the Department of Health and Social Services make efforts to educate the public about mental health issues, with a focus on informing residents of available services and reducing stigma for mental health consumers.
That the Department of Health and Social Services implement a comprehensive communication plan for the new legislation, including the circulation of plain-language materials.
Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Committee Report 25-17(5) be received and moved into Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The motion is in order. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. The motion is carried.
---Carried
Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 100(4) to have Committee Report 25-17(5), Standing Committee on Social Programs Report on the Review of Bill 55: Mental Health Act, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled “2014 Public Service Annual Report,” “NWT Transportation Report Card 2015” and “Follow-up Correspondence for OQ 919-17(5): Discussion Paper on Energy Efficiency Act.”
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents, entitled “Skills 4 Success – 10-Year Strategic Framework” and “Government of the Northwest Territories 2014-2015 Annual Report on Official Languages.” Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following three documents, entitled “GNWT Contracts over $5,000 Report for the Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2015,” “NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation 2014-2015 Annual Report” and “NWT Business Development and Investment Corporation 2015-2016 Corporate Plan.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled “Annual Report of the Director of Child and Family Services 2014-2015.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the Report of the Special Committee on Transition Matters, “Passing the Mace: Recommendations to the 18th Legislative Assembly,” dated October 2015.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to table a CBC News report on the Province of Manitoba lowering food prices in remote northern Manitoba communities.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. I wish to table 2015 Northwest Territories Human Rights Act Comprehensive Review.
As well, I wish to table the document entitled “Moving Forward - Implementing the Recommendations of the 2015 Comprehensive Review of Human Rights in the Northwest Territories, An Implementation Plan for Changes recommending an independent comprehensive review in the Northwest Territories Human Rights Act.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a motion. WHEREAS the Office of the Auditor General, in its 2011 report to the Government of the Northwest Territories, clearly indicated that the Medical Travel Policy is inconsistently applied;
AND WHEREAS the Office of the Auditor General, in its 2011 report to the Government of the Northwest Territories, clearly indicated that there is no sound mechanism in place for monitoring and evaluating the Medical Travel Policy;
AND WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories has had more than four years to respond to the Auditor General’s report;
AND WHEREAS there are communication gaps between regional health centres and Stanton Territorial Hospital;
AND WHEREAS residents of small communities have, from time to time, experienced difficulty accessing the Medical Travel Program;
AND WHEREAS patients with impaired mobility or cognitive ability, life-threatening conditions, such as cancer, or language barriers, should generally have access to non-medical escorts;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the Department of Health and Social Services immediately introduce a policy change to ensure access to non-medical escorts for patients with impaired mobility or cognitive ability, life-threatening conditions, such as cancer, or language barriers;
AND FURTHER, that the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that the Medical Travel Program is consistently applied across all regions of the Northwest Territories;
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
AND FURTHER, that the Department of Health and Social Services ensure that a mechanism is in place for monitoring and evaluating the Medical Travel Program;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the government produce a response to these recommended actions for consideration by the House by February 2016.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Motion is in order. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to make it right to the point here. I want to thank the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre for seconding this motion.
This motion is to let the government know that there is a huge hole in our Medical Travel Policy. The Minister indicated, through his press release with the staff, that there is a policy that needs to be looked at. As a matter of fact, the Minister has stated, February 7, 2014, from Hansard, and I’m asking him questions: “We have a Medical Travel Policy. We want to have a Medical Travel Policy that is hassle-free for all our patients.” That’s a good goal. That’s a good one.
I want to state to the Minister that the Auditor General, in 2011, clearly indicated that this Medical Travel Policy is inconsistent and not applied evenly across the board. There are no sound mechanisms in place for monitoring and evaluating the Medical Travel Policy and that the government has four years to work on the report by the Auditor General. They are all clear examples that I had written down in this document from residents from the Northwest Territories between the regional health centres and Stanton Territorial Hospital. There are communication gaps to where this person in my region came to Stanton, had chest pains, he was actually having a heart attack. They didn’t know why he was at the Stanton Hospital. That’s just one example; there are many more.
Also, the small communities do not have a link of an all-weather road, so from time to time, these incidents my people have experienced difficulty with accessing the Medical Travel Policy. Things are a little different, you know, it’s not all the same. So I want to let this government know that when there are people who are really in need to be escorted for the head injuries, back injuries or life-threatening conditions such as cancers or, you know, even when I was leaving back to Norman Wells, once I came down to the hospital to get checked out. There was an old lady from Deline. She was sitting there and I asked the young person next to her father-in-law why she was down here. She said, “The Health brought her down here. She does not understand or speak English. I had to come down to get her, and get her back to Deline.” So, language barriers are a real big one for my region, my community and other communities.
I’m saying that with the flexibility that they should have some generality asking questions to the health to have these medical escorts. So, this motion strongly recommends this government to introduce a policy so that there is an avenue to look at non-medical escorts for patients in these types of life-threatening conditions, language barriers, where you know from common sense that this person needs a non-medical escort, a family member should be asked.
There are lots of conditions and I want to tell the government that I look forward to their revision of the policy, but it’s seven months away, you know, and we have to look at how we can do things better for our people who are in the small communities who need medical support.
I heard, through the discussions of drafting this motion from our committee on this side, there are a number of ways that could be looked at to sustain our costs in regards to this policy, so I would like to let this government know that we certainly want to improve our patients’ experience, because right now a lot of them don’t have a good experience. The Minister knows, and we know, that his department is working on things like this, but we also need to know to have some real good flexibility that creates as good a program that we could, in fact, stand up quickly and honestly and say we are improving our patients’ experience and helping this government here.
I want to thank the Members for allowing me, at this late stage of the government and our life here, at this time of day, to have this motion come forward, and I want to know that we, on this side, are listening to people who are having these difficulties with the Medical Travel Policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Now to the seconder of the motion to speak, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the motion brought forward by my good colleague Mr. Norman Yakeleya, the MLA for Sahtu, and I think it’s very timely. It’s not just a personal experience he’s gone through. These are experiences we are hearing time and time again. Some of the challenges have been brought to my attention, even as of late, and it’s unfortunate, sometimes an experience like what Mr. Yakeleya had personally, all of a sudden it becomes a lightning rod for people all of a sudden to wake up and go, “Hey, wait a minute, that’s happened to me,” or these are the types of things where, you know, the northern culture has been, whereas people have kept to themselves and sort of accepted sort of sometimes the bumpy road and just said, “Well, I’ll put up with it. I’ll put up with it.”
But this issue is on the radar right now and it’s got people phoning in. Recently, I’ve spoken to a constituent, in particular about the medical travel issue and their experience through it, and certainly their family and relatives and the trials and tribulations that they’ve been challenged with and, you know, I mean, the motion speaks loud and clear itself, but I’ll speak to some of the areas they drew up for concern. I know these are areas that are being worked on. I shouldn’t be remiss on that; I need to emphasize that. I know medical travel is complicated. It’s never been an easy beast to wrestle down and solve and it’s one of those things that it’s very expensive. Let us not kid ourselves that medical travel is certainly an amazing benefit, but it’s an important one and represents the values and type of people we are and we feel it’s that important and this is why we need to do a good job. If we’ve committed to do this process then we’re obligated to do a decent job, and that’s the gap right there where I think we expose for fault or failure or liability, whereas in the system itself it has agreed this is what we’re going to do.
It’s funny, that type of commitment is kind of dangerous because when folks finally get through the medical travel gauntlet of approval, whereas their doctor made recommendations and they finally agree that, yes, everybody’s agreed that you require medical travel, even in non-emergency situations, but it’s the same in emergency situations as well. Then it’s, like, what do you do. The family waits. The patient waits. Whether they’re waiting by themselves or waiting to find out approval from their escort, connecting the dots seems to be an issue, and I don’t know how that could be done better. I don’t know if we have to hire a super A-type personality to get in there and put sticky notes and come up with these processes and spreadsheets. I don’t know what the right solution is. The Department of Health is a huge department. I’m sure they can find someone who has great ideas how to link these things, but linking folks through this process has been really a problem.
When you have someone that’s approved for medical travel, how do you link the escort? How do people know what they’re doing, where they’re going and what time to be there? I mean, I’ve heard many horror stories about how people have believed that they were supposed to be on that plane and they get there and there’s no plane ticket sitting there waiting for them. They didn’t get cab fare to that airport so they pay out of their pocket. They get there and then they’re told there’s no plane ticket there. Then they don’t know who to call when they’re panicking. When you’re sick it may, frankly, be an unfortunate experience. If you’re super deathly ill or you’re trying to be the hero through being the escort helping that person who’s going through this terrible experience, people are under a very difficult challenge at that time emotionally, they’re stressed, and all of a sudden now they don’t have plane tickets, they don’t know who to call. It certainly isn’t Ghostbusters.
But the fact is they are stressed. We need, I don’t know if it’s a simple pamphlet that once you’re approved they hand it to you and say, how do you connect these dots? Any problem, you call this phone number and this person has the authority to delegate a solution. I don’t know where it’s going.
But just to continue on, I don’t have a lot of the issues here that I’m going to tie committee time up with here, but there is very little follow-up. For example, if you’re someone from a small community, which happens regularly that English isn’t you’re first language. I mean, this shouldn’t be a shock to our system. It shouldn’t be a shock to anybody in this area of the Assembly. There’s the language problem. Then, of course, there’s just the connection on how you tie everything together, and certainly, there’s not a follow-up process either to make sure that, hey, did it work, how do we make it better.
I mean, sometimes they call those the 360 process where people make phone calls, who are from the system, obviously, find out, hey, did it work, what could we do better, how do we, as Stephen Covey would say, sharpen the sword. You know, you’ve just got to keep working on the system, tirelessly trying to make it better and better.
Again, I recognize and respect that the people there work on this thing every day, and I recognize that it’s complicated each and every day that they’re working on, but these are people working in ideal situations and when you’re on medical travel or trying to get medical travel, you’re not in an ideal situation. If you’re in a place, as I said at the start, you don’t know who to call, where to go, when to be there, and all of a sudden it starts to have a ripple effect. It just makes the whole experience such an incredible burden that it’s great frustration.
I’m happy we have the motion here before us, and I think, really, what it’s saying is we can find ways to do it better, and I certainly look forward to the department finding ways to make this work better. There may never be a perfect solution, but as I said earlier, I’m sure we’ve got someone who could consider things like how do we connect, as I said, people to their processes better, how do we do follow-ups, how do we ensure that the quality assurance programming on the medical travel is there and make sure people understand exactly what they need to do, where to go, and certainly where to go if you have trouble.
That’s all I’m going to say. I think that it’s an important motion. Again, I want to thank Mr. Yakeleya, and the opportunity to second is certainly an important one and a privilege to work with my colleague on this initiative.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. To the motion. Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting the motion here today. I’m sure there are some challenges, but as the Member just mentioned, we’ve come a long way in medical travel in the last year and a half here. I’ve done a couple statements on this issue. We’re still having little issues with medical travel, elders that get approved for medical travel but when they go to the health centre the people that are working there basically tell them, oh, you’re okay, you don’t need an escort. I mean, that has to stop. If they’re authorized to take an escort, we need to ensure that their escort goes with them. That’s an issue I have here today.
As I mentioned, the department is doing a far better job than they were two years ago, and I’d like to commend them on that. Keep up the good work. Maybe it’s just in my riding. I’m not sure. I’m just kidding.
As I mentioned to the Minister, they’re doing far better than they were a while back. Keep that up and I hope that it only improves more in the next few years.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of this motion, and I’d like to thank Mr. Yakeleya and Mr. Hawkins for bringing it forward.
First and foremost, we’re very thankful that the mover of this motion is here with us. We know he suffered a very traumatic injury and sustained injury, as well as his family. So on behalf of the Assembly, I want to make sure that we wish him well and much healing for him and his family.
It’s only when you go through yourself the trials and tribulations of pain, of injury, you can actually assess whether or not our health system is actually working for the people it serves. It’s a testament to our system. It’s a testament to the work of men and women who work for us.
I want to say, first and foremost, I’ve worked alongside the medical community for over two decades and we’ve got some great people who work in our health facilities and in our travel area, who do the booking and who work at health centres. I want them not to read into this as something that they’re doing wrong. It’s something that we can do better. I think I want to make that perfectly clear. We have made strides in medical travel but have we made the leaps and bounds to make sure that we’re actually there for the people we serve.
This motion has evolved tremendously over the last couple of days as this motion was discussed in the committee. We were looking at basically a no-ask policy first, and quite frankly, it didn’t garner the support of members, and we could see why. It would be too problematic. But it’s something to consider down the road.
I’m glad that the mover of the motion brought it to us today with more cognitive… He talks about impaired mobility and cognitive ability. Those are key attributes to which we need to be very cognizant. Because, as we heard earlier, everyone in this room, we hope, is of sound mind and body today. As I say, we hope. But when you’re in pain and you’re not firing on all cylinders, everything is magnified tenfold. You’re not able to think clearly. You’re not able to make that decision. You’re not able to make a phone call. You’re not able to hold a bag or even walk up a flight of stairs to get on a plane or take your bag off the rail. You’re not able to do those things, so having an escort, really, in essence, is a key attribute to the healing process. For whatever reason, this motion talks about very specifics in nature which I like, and I think we need to give consideration where consideration is due.
As well, it’s very pertinent for us to note that we’ve waited a very long time. When I say we, residents of the Northwest Territories, Members of this House, committee, and of course, the Auditor General of Canada. He’s still waiting too. He’s asked this government to act accordingly. The government of the day said, yup, we’ll do that. We’ll get on it and we’ll have it done by a certain date, and that’s actually documented for everyone to see. Well, of course, we’ve gone past that date. We’ve gone past that date many times. It’s unearthly to still hear stories to this day, and I can tell you, as a Member who has to listen to a patient or a constituent come in, the moment we know it’s an issue of medical travel, we all know we’re going to be there for a while. It’s not one issue that falls off the rails when it comes to medical travel. It’s a story, and it’s usually a cascade, it’s a myriad of issues, one after the other, to which you’re here as a Member and you try to help.
Now, of course, we put tools in place. We’ve got system navigators, and that’s a great move that the department did. But as I said, when you’re sitting there listening to a patient go through their story about what happened to them, you feel for that person. You go, geez, why couldn’t we have done something better? So this is one of those motions where it says why couldn’t we have done something better, why should we not do something to improve?
So, I really appreciate the motion for what it is. This is a very subtle nudge to the Minister to say you know what, don’t leave it on the backbench. Let’s tackle this issue. We know the Minister has approached committee. We know the Minister has talked about the bigger plans. I’m sure today he’ll share some specific details about where they’re going with medical travel and I’m hoping the public is able to understand where we’re going, should we get there sooner.
The motion talks about getting back to us in February of 2016. Hopefully, some of us are here, but I’m encouraging the Minister and the department, let’s not wait until February 2016. There are certain things we can do now. That’s what this motion says. Let’s do it now. We’ve been waiting years. Years.
So I want to leave you with this, I can go on at length with this because this is definitely up my alley, but I want to leave you with this here: You don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for, and clearly we haven’t worked enough on this one. Thank you.
