Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Okay, earlier I shared my constituent's experience getting lab work. Seconds after delivering that statement, the text messages started rolling in. Mr. Speaker, it's clear the new process is not working well for people. Can the Minister commit to reviewing this new process and bringing forward solutions which will improve access to this essential service? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with any new process that rolls out, I think in any department, there are always some difficulties. The process right now currently and the concern is that there are slots available for booked appointments. There's a number of people that they can do as same-day appointments, and then what happens is is that if you arrive earlier enough on time they'll let you know that they've only got enough space for walk-ins and they don't want you to -- like, they'll tell you that. And so it's not that there isn't walk-ins. And so we're not going to review the program. We are implementing the program. Yes, there are some struggles along the way so there will be some public communique going out on this later on this week or early next week. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that there's going to be some communication. I was hoping for a commitment to maybe review this. Mr. Speaker, why was this change made? I haven't been receiving any complaints about this service in the past and now all of a sudden, we're receiving a lot of complaints. We seem to have broken something by trying to fix it, Mr. Speaker. What was it that brought about this change? How have we gotten to the point where we've reduced access to a service when our priority is to improve it?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, you know, this is a new program, so we've gone out publicly saying this is a new program. What this program has done is over the past month that it's been rolled out, we have seen 200 more patients this last month than we normally do in the lab in Yellowknife and so because there's changes, because, you know, there's certain things -- before we were getting a lot more complaints that there wasn't some structure, there wasn't time to book appointments, there wasn't same-day appointments in the lab, so right now what they're working on is ensuring that there's going to be some changes and so that there's more options and ways to book online and things like that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it seems like there's been an attempt to increase access to service, as I said before, and it seems like it has created a backlog or something's going on here. Mr. Speaker, is there a reason we can't simply return to the process we were already using and appear to be working for people? Is there, maybe, an explanation as to why there's suddenly been this surge in people requiring the service? If the Minister can give any information to the public to help us understand what's going on here, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process is going to continue the way it is. I hear the Member. I know constituents when things are changing and when they're not able to access something immediately that there might be -- but we have heard lots of other positives as well. And so not very many reach out to their MLAs when things are positive. So, you know, so that's the issue here. And so we are monitoring it. We are increasing -- the numbers have been increasing in Yellowknife for access. So like I said, there are 200 more in the last month than there is normally. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say I don't think that it's simply requiring people to wait in line, clammer for availability for a few available spots, it just doesn't seem to be working. Mr. Speaker, I would like to -- I haven't gotten a commitment from the Minister. I would like the Minister to commit to at least have a look at this. Is there anything that we can do differently as opposed to doubling down on something that clearly isn't working right now. Maybe it's growing pains. But can we have a look at this, make sure that we're doing everything we can to ensure that access to health care, which is our priority, is actually taking place in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, the program is ongoing. There are small changes that are being implemented as we move along. You know, we'll continue to hear from the Members and the constituents but from the other side too is that people are grateful that they're able to have appointments, they can preschedule them, they're triaging those that are going in early in the morning that are fasting. You know, there's different things that are going on. They're working with their -- you know, within the authority to make sure that prioritizing blood work gets booked in. So there are a lot of things that are changing as they're hearing from the residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
