Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back on February 24, 2014, in this House, I spoke to the fact that right now superbugs pose the biggest challenges in our hospitals nationally. In fact, one in 12 patients in a Canadian hospital are infected by superbugs during their stay. Unfortunately, after waiting 94 days for an answer to my tabled written questions from the Department of Health and Social Services, it is clear this department is not concerned about these national statistics or the potential health threat to the residents of the Northwest Territories. My questions will be for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
The fact that this department has almost ignored national alarming statistics on hospital superbug infestation is shameful. Focusing on one matrix, that of only methicillin-resistant strains of Staph A begs to ask the Minister are reporting mechanisms truly in place or do these superbugs fail to cross the 60th parallel, because every other jurisdiction in Canada faces these threats. So why, Minister, why are we so unique that we don’t see these other prevalent superbugs in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Member’s consideration or suggestion that we don’t care or we’re not taking this particularly seriously. I would like to suggest that, in fact, we do take this very seriously and are monitoring where appropriate. I can’t say why there isn’t more prevalence or more indication. We do monitor; we do track. I would also suggest that the Member take a closer look at the report, because we do see increased rates in some of our communities. It just doesn’t happen to be in all of our communities. We are tracking, Mr. Speaker.
The recently tabled NWT Department of Health and Social Services Annual Report of 2012-2013 lists Methicillin-resistant Staph showing a doubling of incidents in our hospitals in just one calendar year. Plus, a tabled data provided yesterday by the Minister equally echoes regional authorities struggling with huge reporting increases. So, unfortunately, with only one matrix of evaluation which is clearly showing alarming increases in certain regions, what is this Minister doing to mitigate this situation? Thank you.
We’re working with each of the authorities to identify protocols that work within particular jurisdictions. We are working with health professionals; we are working with individuals who are on the front line who have the best opportunities to provide recommendations on how to address those situations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I’m not sure if there was a response there, which was totally unfortunate. As I indicated in my Member’s statement on February 24, 2014, our basic defence in superbug control is a more robust and well-funded housekeeping program. Yesterday’s tabled data on the subject fails to address the questions posed some 94 days ago, making this tabled document virtually useless. Mr. Speaker, I cannot express my dismay in such a non-response to a written question. Therefore, I ask the Minister: when can this Member or the people of the Northwest Territories expect the full and complete written reply to my questions on housekeeping cleaning budgets in the Northwest Territories health care facilities? Thank you.
Getting and liking the response are two different things. The Member did get a response. It was full; it was comprehensive. It has the data he asked for. As I’ve indicated, the departments and the authorities do take this issue seriously and we are working with the authorities to come up with methods to address this particular concern and control the spread of these bugs throughout the system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister and I have a different definition of whole and comprehensive. If I was in pre-kindergarten, that would probably be applicable, what I received yesterday. That was not full and comprehensive.
In trying to reflect best practices that we see nationally, can the Minister indicate when we should expect a full, public reporting mechanism that reports all superbug incidents in our in-patient hospitals and a complete public reporting program that evaluates our NWT housekeeping programs? Thank you.
There is a significantly large list of different superbugs that the Member is referring to. There are some that are more common and prevalent than others. According to the information provided, we’ve got incidents that some of the superbugs in our authorities that are non-existent or very, very low, not even at a point where it’s reasonable or possible to collect that data and the more common, prevalent superbugs, and we will continue to report on that and we’re happy to share the information.
Once again, getting and liking the answer are two different things. I believe the answer was comprehensive. I answered the questions the Member did ask. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
