Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple of days ago I was asking the Minister of Health and Social Services some questions about medical travel, and I'd like to follow up with a couple of questions that I didn't get to ask that day. With the different authorities, with Hay River and Behchoko or Tlicho, does the medical travel policy still apply to that community, the ones that the department has developed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Health and Social Services.
I'm not sure I understand the question 100 per cent. If a resident of the Northwest Territories is given a referral to a community outside of their home community for a service, if they are required to go to another community to receive services, whether it's somebody going to Fort Resolution for an appointment or somebody from Simpson going to Edmonton or Yellowknife, medical travel will apply, and if there is a legitimate need for an escort, those needs will also be met. So I'm not sure I understand the question 100 per cent.
I thank the Minister for the answer. He kind of answered the question. What I was asking, though, was: is that policy, the medical travel policy developed by the Department of Health and Social Services, applicable across the territories? I think the Minister answered the question, saying it does.
So my second question, and maybe he can answer this one. I shouldn't say can, I know he can. In regard to non-medical escorts, when people move from a small community to a larger centre, sometimes they lose that support system. So what is the process to allow people to get non-medical travel that are not in that community? So if I move from Fort Simpson to Hay River and I don't have the support system there and I need a medical escort, what is the process so that people from the community that they live in can help support that patient?
This does happen from time to time. But to be clear, a medical escort, non-medical escort, still needs to be referred or supported by a practitioner. It's not a choice that the individuals get to make; they still have to have support. If there's a legitimate need, an escort will be provided.
I understand the situation the Member is describing. If Jane Doe lives in a community, has to go to Edmonton, but their daughter, spouse, whatnot, happens to live in a different community, how do we get the right people together? It's usually done through an exception request. This is something that an individual can request. It usually has to be escalated up further than the administrators who are actually doing the day-to-day administration of the program. But it is something that happens; it is an exception request.
I thank the Minister for clarification on that; that's very helpful. Now I can work with the people in my riding that may be moving. That's very helpful.
The other big question, from what I've been hearing from the patients, does the department have a policy or a process that ensures that their information from the doctors or from our regional health centres are to the doctors down south? Or vice versa, the information is brought to the patient so they make sure they have everything there, so that, you know, it's not a waste of time, but so they get the treatment they needed? So can the Minister please explain if they have a process and how it's followed through?
Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories we have a Health Information Act that dictates how we protect an individual's privacy and share information with individuals involved in a circle of care, and there's certainly information that may not need to be sent out to a southern practitioner. It's usually done through the protocols that have been established that allows the information that's relevant to the particular situation that someone's going down for a doctor's appointment, so not necessarily everything would have to be sent.
In the Northwest Territories we have electronic medical records that allows practitioners to be involved in the circle of care, regardless of what community they live in, can have access to the files. Some of these things are still rolling out. We're still streamlining and making sure everything works perfectly, but we are moving forward with folks on respecting our residents and ensuring their information is kept private and confidential where appropriate.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
