Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about the issue surrounding our lack of progress on withdrawal management services. Clearly, the department has been given guidance and reporting to make realistic changes in its approach for Northerners. We are constantly reminded by our Health Minister that the economies of scale prevent us from finding a made-in-the North solution when it comes to withdrawal management and treatment addictions as a whole. This argument is used far too often as a means to justify bureaucratic policy. In essence, nothing would be done in the North if one used the economies of scale defence, as all services would be cheaper done down South.
My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. As mentioned in my statement today, the Minister has had a report in hand since March of 2014 clearly spelling out opportunities to enhance our withdrawal management services in the Northwest Territories.
Can the Minister indicate what progress or timelines were made with those recommendations?
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report identified that the department is offering a continuum of withdrawal management services, although there are some gaps and there is room for improvement. One of the areas of improvement is mostly around awareness. We need to do a better job of making sure that our nurse practitioners, our nurses, our physicians and other practitioners throughout the Northwest Territories, as well as outside stakeholders like RCMP are aware of the program. We’re working on information to get out to these individuals so that they understand what is available and how we can refer our clients in. There is also a requirement for some additional training for individuals on the actual intervention process and helping individuals target people that need to go in there. Those are the types of things we’re doing now. We’re doing some training programs and we’re creating some awareness around the types of access points that do exist.
The Minister just pointed out just one of a very broad range of recommendations that have yet to be implemented in the Northwest Territories. One of the recommendations of interest was the department being asked to develop policies, standards and guidelines in common language that are to be used across the system to establish a common assessment tool to assess withdrawal severity, stages of changes and addiction severity.
Can the Minister indicate if this has been done yet?
The work has begun but it is not concluded.
One year later and it’s still not concluded, as we’re hearing from the Minister. We know our first point of contact folks such as nurses, physicians, mental health and addiction counsellors, social service workers, child protection workers and RCMP require ongoing training with withdrawal management best practices, harm reduction and the use of a full range of assessment tools, not just awareness from what we heard today.
Can the Minister affirm that this is indeed in place?
That is work that is currently being done. That is what’s being designed and created at this time.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we’re hearing in progress. You know what? This is just ridiculous. All Northerners were led to believe that our use of southern facilities for withdrawal management and addiction treatments were to be temporary. The Minister is even quoted in saying, “We have not lost sight of the need to develop NWT-specific options of our approach to addressing addictions.”
Can the Minister elaborate as to when we can see and expect a NWT-specific residential addictions treatment facility based in the North and run by Northerners?
At this point in time there is no intention to build a territorial treatment facility in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to utilize the incredible facilities that we use in the South that are giving a wide range of programs and services to the people of the Northwest Territories; we will continue to deliver on-the-land programming through our Aboriginal partners, which the money has been put in the budget to do so; and we are continuing to pursue the mobile treatment options, which I would be happy to discuss with Members more.
With respect to withdrawal management, that is in the Northwest Territories. When it comes to a medical withdrawal management, individuals can go to Stanton Territorial Hospital or Inuvik Regional Hospital.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
