Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The questions are for the Minister of Health. Can the Minister tell this Assembly how many locum health care providers the department employs throughout the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the question. For the month of December, there will be 77 locum physicians providing services to the NWT. It sounds like a lot, but this is substantially lower than the average of 103 locums per month. In addition, as of October 31st the following casual locum staff working throughout the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority: 11 community health nurses, one midwife, one nurse practitioner, one respiratory therapist, and 26 registered nurses. And to give some context to these numbers, as of June the 30th there were 338 frontline nursing positions and a total of 1509 positions throughout the whole of the NTHSSA. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister tell this Assembly if these positions are concentrated in Yellowknife or throughout other communities as well; and, due to increased vacancy of health care professionals, is the department looking to locums to fill the gap going forward? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Health and Social Services system has always relied on locums, and that is still the case. The positions are located throughout the NWT, and we use them to cover shortterm gaps and ensure that we're providing quality services to our patients. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if locum turnover is something the department considers real, something constituents say is happening and resulting in inadequate and untimely community health care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, locums are selfemployed basically. They come here on shortterm contracts, and they may come once, they may come on a schedule; there's no way to know. And on the employer end, they are used to fill gaps as necessary. So in some cases, we do see locums returning on a regular basis and, wherever possible, we encourage them to continue coming to the NWT to ensure that patient continuity that the Member was seeking of.
In addition, we maintain a locum talent pool list which is a list that we consult and call people from on an ongoing basis.
What we've seen from locums in recent months is that there's a lower uptake across all health care areas, and that's not just in the NWT; it's across the country as well. And so we're monitoring this and determining whether we need to increase our recruitment efforts not only of full-time staff but of locums as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, an issue that is discussed is of some health care staff is the inequity in the treatment between permanent staff and locums. It is assumed locums are treated better when it comes to compensation and time on the job. Can the Minister confirm if this is an issue and if so, how is it being addressed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, thank you. The terms and conditions of the collective agreement set out the compensation and benefits provided to our indeterminate and casual employees, and this includes locum nursing contracts. Physician locum compensation is separate and in its own collective agreement with the NWT Medical Association. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
