Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what the health centre’s policy is when a patient or client comes into the health centre and want to see a nurse. What is the policy? Is the nurse supposed to take them into the examination room and work with them or chase them away?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The clinical practice is to see the patient. If the patient has pain, then the practice is for the physician that is there – whether it be a nurse, nurse practitioner or doctor – to see the patient and examine the patient.
How is this policy being monitored or being enforced? When I was in Fort Good Hope, certainly, residents there had told me about this not being fully enforced. How is this policy being encouraged so that the people who go to the health centre know that the nurse is going to see them in the examination room, rather than to either give them some pills or tell them not to come back, or not to really look at the issues? How is this being monitored and enforced?
Our activities, when we’re dealing with patients of any location in the Northwest Territories, is to use the clinical guideline practices and that if an individual comes in, the nurse is obligated to give them an examination. If they determine that it’s something minor and they can give them some medication, then that may be a decision, but otherwise, they should be following the policy. It’s being monitored by our Health and Social Services department with the health and social services authorities across the North.
The patients that I spoke to have gone to the health centre. Is there someone in the front that has enough information to say you have the right to ask for an examination, other than the nurse looking at you saying don’t come back or here’s some aspirin, come back the next day or come back when the doctor is in the community, which could be six weeks to three months? Our people won’t ask. You have to tell them they have the right to be examined and get a second opinion, if possible, and not to be asked to take some pills and go home.
What kind of policy encourages our people in the small communities who speak Dene Kede, who speak a second language – English is their second language and Slavey is their first – that they have the right to be examined?
In our system we have quality assurances. If that is happening in the Sahtu or something that is happening outside of our clinical practice guidelines, then we will assure that individuals can go to quality assurance. We have people in each of the authorities and at the department that can be contacted. I can provide that information to the Members, or the Member specific to this question also.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, I have had indications where a mother went in with her child to get the child looked at because of a skin rash and that. The nurse didn’t really give the young child any type of medication and sent the child and mother home.
What assurances can the Minister give me here today that I can call the mother back and say go back to the health centre and the nurse will check the child over? How can we give this type of assurance to the people in Fort Good Hope that their health centre will look at the people no matter what, and then make the proper prescription of what type of medication they could be taking?
I know there is a standard of practice, like I have indicated earlier, for the health practitioners to see the patient. However, I’m sure that this happens. I’ll have the deputy minister contact the CEO from the health authority to ensure that is happening across the Sahtu.
Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
