Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
I understand that the department is reviewing its Medical Travel Policy. What is the timeline for this review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Mr. Speaker, in the last sitting I talked about the schedule for the review of the Medical Travel Policy, and we were hoping to have the base Cabinet policy ready for discussion on March 31st of this year. I did have an opportunity to get briefed by the department and go through that Cabinet policy and I didn’t feel that it was quite right and it needed some additional work, so I’ve actually sent it back to the department.
Between that and some other competing priorities, we are a little behind. I’m hoping to have that Cabinet policy to Cabinet and then to Standing Committee on Social Programs in July. In the meantime, I’ve had an opportunity to travel around the North and talk to a number of people, and there are lots of individuals who are obviously frustrated about medical travel, in particular escorts.
In our discussions on the medical travel review, I had indicated that once we had the Cabinet policy done, then we would work on the individual portions: escorts, appeal process, price. Recognizing that there is this delay and we won’t be ready until July, I’ve asked the department to expedite the review of the escorts policy in light of situations like the Member has discussed. We will be going out for an RFP immediately to seek input and provide some direction and to find some options to deal with the escort portion of medical travel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned in my statement, my constituent was given a support letter from her doctor, and then once it came to medical travel it was denied.
I’d like to know why was she denied a medical escort after being approved earlier?
Mr. Speaker, I’m not comfortable talking about specific individuals, but with respect to the Medical Travel Policy, a recommendation can come from the practitioner. But when it comes to non-medical escorts, there are some guidelines and not all non-medical escorts are approved.
This is clearly an area that needs improvement. We have heard from residents all across the Northwest Territories, that when you’re dealing with chronic conditions like cancer or other issues, you need emotional, compassionate support, and non-medical escorts needs to be reviewed. This is going to be included in the review that’s going to be conducted once the RFP goes out, and I’m hoping that we can take some immediate action on addressing non-medical as well as medical escorts.
The RFP, as I said, will be out early this summer and we should have something to have discussions with committee by the end of the summer/early fall. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister describe what is being done for medical travel situations in the interim, before the final recommendations of the review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there is always an exception process that individuals can access if they feel that they’ve been declined medical travel. It’s not always going to be exactly what the Members want or what the individual residents want, but we do try to meet their challenges and the issues that are coming forward, and we are attempting to find solutions for individuals on non-medical escorts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Blake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we are waiting for the review and revision of the Medical Travel Policy, will the Minister make an exception in this case?
Mr. Speaker, I’m not prepared to talk about an individual case, but I’d be happy to sit down with the Member and we can look at the file and see what we can do to resolve this particular situation.
In the end, the Minister doesn’t make decisions on medical travel. There is a policy and a process. It’s just a matter of finding the appropriate way through the process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
