Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a Return to Oral Question asked by the Member for Nunakput on March 10, 2021, regarding medevac services and medical escorts. From January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, there were 305 air ambulance transports from the Beaufort-Delta; 68 percent were sent to Inuvik Hospital, 29 percent were sent to Stanton Hospital, and 3 percent went to Edmonton.
Escort data is not available. It is tracked by the air ambulance contractors. In general, non-patients are not permitted on the plane, but an escort may be allowed if the patient is under 19 or if interpretation services are required in-flight. However, the final decision to permit an escort on the plane rests with the crew to assess and then decide, with a focus on ensuring the care and safety of the patient and that the crew is able to deliver the necessary services.
The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services system has evolved to provide a broad range of medical services. The department and the health authorities are completing an NWT Physician Workforce Plan, which has four years of engagement and inquiry behind it. The workforce plan considers the needs of the system and balances resource availability, such as the cost of air ambulances, while working towards a solution under the following principles:
Improve equity in access to physician services throughout the NWT;
Achieve continuity between family physicians and patients within multidisciplinary teams to ensure that people have access to the right category of practitioner at the right time;
Provide care as close to home as appropriate, including maximizing the use of virtual options when possible;
Meet standards for quality of care and wait times; and
Achieve sustainability.
I will share the details of the plan with all Members once a draft is finalized. At this time, the department, in collaboration with the authorities, is conducting an internal review of the medical travel programs escort policy and application. I will take into consideration the request to enhance the current policy to include escorts for all elders as part of this review. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
