Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions today to address to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’d like to follow up on my statement and ask the Minister some questions with regard to the abilities or lack of abilities of our naturopathic doctors in the NWT. I know that the naturopathic association has been talking to the department. I know that they have made some suggestions to the department to try to advance the naturopathic profession. I know they have met with some resistance to a certain extent, but specifically with the ability for naturopathic doctors to prescribe drugs and tests for their patients, I would like to know from the Minister, is there anything on the radar, anything in the works in the near future that will allow naturopath doctors to do prescriptions. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have received a letter from the NWT Association of Naturopathic Doctors and I have agreed to meet with them to discuss their concerns to see what kind of forward direction we can develop working together. Obviously our goals are the same. We are interested in the best interest and safety and well-being of our patients and residents. So I am going to have that meeting with the association. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am very pleased to hear that the Minister is willing to meet with the association. I know there were some meetings held in the previous Assembly with naturopaths and they thought they were advancing somewhere, so I hope we can go back to moving forward.
I’d like to know from the Minister, in order to allow naturopathic doctors to prescribe medicine and tests, what kind of change do we need? Is it changes to regulations or is it change to legislation? Thank you.
I’m not actually 100 percent sure. I believe it’s changes to legislation, but I will confirm that for the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks for the commitment from the Minister. One of the concerns of the naturopathic doctors is that in the recently passed Health and Social Services Professions Act, there is no intention on the part of the department to include naturopathic doctors in the near future. I think they are probably 19 or 20 on a list of 19. So I’d like to know from the Minister, in your discussions with naturopathic doctors and their association, are you willing to move up the regulation of naturopathic doctors from the bottom of the list to very close to the top. Thank you.
We haven’t passed the Health and Social Services Professions Act. We are doing that work now. Our focus to date has been completing and drafting the bill, as this is critical in advancing profession-specific regulations. This legislation will identify and include criteria for the development of regulations, which is what we are talking about here.
As the Member knows, the top priority for regulations under Health and Social Services Professions Act, which we will move forward immediately after conclusion of the bill, is emergency medical services providers, licenced practical nurses and psychologists here in the Northwest Territories. I have talked to the department and I have asked the department to move naturopathic doctors into the number four spot. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister for correcting me. My brain is too full of information, obviously, so my apologies for thinking that was passed.
I am extremely glad to hear that there’s a desire to move the priority of naturopathic doctors forward. The Minister said what the priorities are and listed a number of things. That may be the priority of the government or departments, but it’s not necessarily the priority of all Members. Since the Minister knows more than I do, I will simply ask him whether or not naturopathic doctors are covered under insured services in the NWT. Thank you.
With respect to the priority, it may not be the Member’s priority, but we do have financial and potential liability implications with the professions I have identified, which must be addressed for the safety and security of our residents. Therefore, they continue to be at the top of the list. I have directed the department to include naturopathic doctors into the fourth position, so that regulation will happen soon as opposed to later after the bill has been completed.
It should be noted that the lack of regulations does not prevent naturopathic doctors from practicing in the Northwest Territories and does not create any barriers for residents who want to seek their services. Just to be clear, licensing of naturopathic doctors does not mean they will become an insured service and they are not currently an insured service in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The time for oral questions has expired. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper.
---Unanimous consent granted
