Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement today is in reference to the recently tabled Northwest Territories Health and Social Services 2012-2013 Annual Report on the subject of patient no-shows for specialists, family and nurse practitioners.
For the record, the no-show rates for specialists are at 9.1 percent, slightly lower from the target of 10 percent, and a no-show rate for practitioners are at 12.6 percent, slightly higher than the 9 percent target. Keep in mind the 12.6 percent rate is only for Yellowknife and the Sahtu as the disclaimer in the report says the numbers aren’t consistently available for other health authorities. This concept of no-show rate is nothing new as I’ve spoken on this topic before in the House, as have others.
Alarming, still, is the continued lack of understanding of the true cost this has on our health care system, coupled with the waste of important resources in a system limited by design.
So what is the cost of a no-show? I guess this would depend on the specialty. However, what this report doesn’t really address is the issue of our no-show rates for our travel clinics and the no-show rates for our surgical operating rooms. For these numbers, one has to dig a little bit into the archives. In fact, what has been mentioned in the not-so-distant past is the no-show rate for our specialists travel clinics at 16.8 percent and for our operating rooms at 16.5 percent.
How do you begin to quantify the costs of not coming to your own operation? I can’t imagine what a team of doctors or an anesthesiologist and a couple of surgical nurses cost to have standing around these days, but I’m sure it’s not a pretty invoice.
To the question: Who pays the price of these no-shows? Well, you’ve guessed it. The taxpayer. How do we protect the taxpayer from having to pay for the arrogance of a few? That’s a good question. For some of these answers, I thank the private practice of my dentist. How about a reminder phone call? How about a text message? How about an e-mail? How about doing this for a secondary contact? How about doing all four suggestions at once, or better yet, if you really want to reduce the no-show rates, how about a deposit at the time of booking which is non-refundable if you are a no-show. Now that you’ve got everyone’s attention and, I mean, the wallet does have a way of stimulating the cerebral cortex, doesn’t it.
It is clear, we have limited resources in a world begging for more service delivery. I’m not just sure we’re giving the proper attention of this no-show rate in the NWT, so I will have questions at the appropriate time for the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.
