Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Recognizing the backlog of dental emergencies and challenges with oral health in the Northwest Territories, will the Minister of Health and Social Services commit to fast tracking the legislative changes to allow for dental hygienists to be recognized as professionals on their own and not have to work under a dentist just like the rest of Canada? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to note that dental hygienists are really on the frontline of oral health and prevention of decay, and they play a vital role in our healthcare system. They are currently, as the Member said, regulated under the Dental Auxiliaries Act. To date, Mr. Speaker, we haven't heard anything from the hygienists about wanting to be regulated under the Health and Social Services Professions Act. If they were to contact us, that would certainly assist us in prioritizing their request for change. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess what I'll do is I've raised this in the House many times and I know as part of some of the work that I've done in the past, I'll go back to some of the Indigenous leaders in my region which really found that this legislation was a barrier and then maybe that will help bump this along.
So, Mr. Speaker, the Minister confirmed in writing to me that health centres have the necessary information available for them that when they need to refer patients out for dental services, so this is all on a dental oral health concern, and you know, we've heard in the news again recently patients with dental access, general pain management, they require immediate attention. So my question is how much pain does a person need to be or how long do they need to be in pain before they would be eligible for this medical travel or travel to the nearest and available appointment because they do not have dentists and even when going to Inuvik for any other thing, the wait could be up to six months in my region just to get in for a cleaning. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the Member, and I'm sure she's aware that this program is a federal government program from Indigenous Services Canada. They're the ones who decide on who gets medical travel or what conditions that require medical travel. That is not something that I have any say in. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And again, thank you to the Minister for that. I am fully aware that this is an NHIB issue. But, again, as we as the territory, we do provide the travel to the communities. And when I've had talks with the NHIB, they have said well, it has to go through the government to approve the process. So what I'm saying is I guess, is there is a problem there and maybe we can meet on the side to have that discussion further. But, Mr. Speaker, the GNWT does put out the RFP for dental services travel costs to provide services to small communities in my region without dentists. And I believe this funding, again, comes from NHIB. Has this funding been increased to be able to provide more clinics to deal with the backlog due to COVID and if so, has there been an increase in the amount of visits to deal with the dental restorations emergency as well as keep up with the routine cleaning and checkups as well as to provide services in Inuvik because my constituents are feeling this because the dentists are all going out to the community now, and we can't get dentists. So this is a problem, and I would like to know if these have been increased. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services is currently negotiating with Indigenous Services Canada for the provision of services that they fund and we administer. The current agreement expires at the end of this month. So we hope to report soon that there are changes coming. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.
All right. Thank you. Well, that's good to hear because the next one I just my next question might add to that.
So how does the GNWT deal with dental providers that are not balancing the preventative treatment in the communities because they may only have time or be focusing on the emergencies with the amount of funding that they're receiving to travel into these communities? And also and I'm not saying that this is happening but restorations, root canal, larger dental work costs more, and I know that the dentists do direct billing for the work that they do in there, and they may make more than just doing the cleanings and the checkups. So does the GNWT base the amounts provided in the RFP to cover what's needed for each community resident to be able to get the preventative treatment that they're entitled to as per NHIB dental, and are they providing the amount needed and is NHIB providing the amount needed? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the level of detail that the Member is asking for, but I certainly can obtain that and get back to her. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
