Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Health and Social Services. I hope the Minister has recovered from my apparent attack yesterday and is willing to give me some answers on wait times, which was actually my intent yesterday.
I know that we have significant wait times for specialist doctors, but I would like to know from the Minister whether or not we have identified standards for wait times both in Canada and in the NWT.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of specialist services and other services we provide at Stanton and other facilities. Different services have different wait times depending on the demand versus available personnel. I’m not aware and I need to check whether there are strict standards put on wait times. I would like to advise the Member, however, that our residents do receive procedures they require if it’s an emergency and acute cases, and obviously our medical professionals are on constant watch to make sure that our people get the services they need.
Thanks to the Minister. I would appreciate knowing whether or not we do have certain standards which are out there which we should attempt to adhere to. I do remember a conversation from a couple of years ago on the federal scene that we were trying to reduce wait times for patients. I’d be interested in seeing standards, if there are any.
The concern for my constituent, in October of 2008 he was advised that it was a one-year wait to see an orthopaedic specialist. I wonder if the Minister could tell me what kind of a wait it is at this particular time now that we’re in March of 2010.
First on the topic of patient wait time guarantee, it is a big national issue. Wait time issue is a national issue. The federal government has made some investments, but I don’t believe it’s about setting the standard and making everybody meet the standard. It’s about changing the system and better aligning health care professionals, using technology, just better management of the resources we have so that we maximize and, therefore, reduce the wait time.
I am aware that for general surgery, which could include -- I don’t want to get highly technical because, obviously, I am not a doctor -- it will be difficult for me to say what is the wait time for orthopaedic procedures. This will be like any other procedure where the orthopaedic surgeons at the hospital would look at all the cases, and cases will be moved up depending on the need and the seriousness or the urgency.
In general, we have a one-year wait time for general surgery at Stanton. Thank you.
That’s kind of a damning statistic, if one has to wait a year to get into general surgery. I know that actually our wait times in the NWT are probably better than in some of the provinces in the South.
To the Minister, I understand that we have a policy that if we have a specialist in the NWT -- this is what my constituent ran into -- we have orthopaedic surgeons within the NWT and even though it’s a year or 18 months to wait for surgery or a particular injury in this case, if we have a specialist here, our patients cannot be referred to the South. So I’d like to ask the Minister whether or not that policy is indeed accurate and whether or not we could change that policy so that we could, in one case, reduce the list of patients that need to have orthopaedic surgery, such as in this case, and provide better service to our residents. Thank you.
The wait times we’re talking about are similar across the country. So the services we need for our residents, we either provide them in Yellowknife or in Edmonton. Sending them south would not necessarily reduce the wait times. We do send our patients down south because that’s where the services are provided. So, for example, for orthopaedic surgery, our residents may get services here or in Edmonton. My point being we have medical specialists at Stanton in constant contact with patients that are waiting for the surgery and whether or not they need to be moved around to get the services they need, sending them south would not necessarily reduce the wait time. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister as well. I guess I would encourage the Minister to consider there may be cases where sending a patient south might actually speed things up and, if that is the case, I would encourage the Minister to consider doing that. I understand it’s probably unlikely, but we have to keep all doors open, in my mind.
The Minister mentioned something about wait times are about changing the system. If we have wait times as long as a year for one particular speciality, I’m sure there are others that happen to be longer. I would like to ask the Minister what we as a government or what we as a Department of Health and Social Services are doing to change the system to reduce the wait times for our residents. Thank you.
Just to state again sending our patients south to see if we can reduce their wait time, my understanding is that actually most general surgeries, Alberta or any other provinces, one year is the norm. It is a national issue and it is a serious issue.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, Stanton and the department is working hard to look at the entire specialist delivery service to see how we can lengthen the wait time and better provide service. For example, we are aware of the fact that some of the delays at Stanton happened because of the bed shortages. We are looking to review that. Our medical directors are working together to see how we can move our patients around faster and we are also looking at moving some of the services like diagnostic services to Hay River so that we could free the bed. So a lot of work is being done and I would be happy to share that with the Members once it’s complete in a few weeks. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.
