Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today was travel from the outlying communities; Ulukhaktok and smaller communities that travel from communities for medical travel to either Inuvik or Yellowknife being bumped off. Will the Minister commit to working with the various departments and agencies to implement changes provided by the communities to improve the administration for medical travel to prevent future patients to have to wait in their communities or transit centres and half the time while in pain, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will commit to do that with the Member. We are reviewing the medical travel and we are reviewing the very issue that the Member is raising. Thank you.
When the patient is in pain in the communities, they must be flown out the next day or the next flight, no questions asked, to the nearest hospital. Mr. Speaker, there’s no reason that is good enough to have patients suffer needlessly, especially due to an overbooked plane. Mr. Speaker, how long does the Minister expect people to wait in their home communities in severe pain before a medevac is warranted? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Member is right that we have lots of people in our communities who have a permanent, twenty-four hour medical and health staff. Their services are provided by communities outside. We have to rely on medical travel to do that and obviously the people who live in these communities are entitled to good service and quick access. So, no, we don’t expect people who aren’t well to be waiting in pain. We do have a policy in place to do that. I know the medical director team in the Beaufort-Delta is reviewing the response policy and I will get back to the Member with the details of that. We are working to improve that system. Thank you.
A constituent told me a similar situation where one time they had to wait due to cancellation, because of a lack of passengers, for four days away from their home. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister take the initiative to try to coordinate alternative arrangements when scheduled medical travel flights have been cancelled such as coming back to Yellowknife going through Kugluktuk up to Ulukhaktok? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, we will follow up on that. Thank you.
Thank you. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
