Merci, Madame la Presidente. The federal government recently announced the creation of a new national longterm care standard said to be aimed at addressing systemic problems exposed by the Corona virus pandemic. Canada as a whole had the worst record for COVID19 fatalities in nursing homes among wealthy countries during the first wave of the pandemic. So the standard, while not mandatory, is an attempt to awaken jurisdictions to the need to review and adjust regulations and practices.
I cannot determine whether any COVID deaths took place in NWT longterm care facilities, although an exposure notice was issued for the Fort Simpson longterm care facility. Since the pandemic, this government has undertaken a "learning from the response to COVID19" public consultation to evaluate our organizational reaction to the pandemic and to "improve preparedness for future public health emergencies." That consultation closed in the summer and the report is expected. However, in reviewing the discussion paper used as a basis for the consultation, there's no reference to issues or measures associated with continuing care facilities.
In February 2015, the Department of Health and Social Services established the Northwest Territories continuing care standards. The standards document says it provides operational benchmarks for program and service providers and the means to evaluate programs and service delivery against best practices. The standard provides evaluation criteria for home and community care, supported living, and the longterm care program, including care provided under 14 different types of services such as palliative care, dietary, and adult day services. To me, this seems like a perfect coincidence of events and processes. We have territorial continuing care standards now almost ten years old. We have a new national longterm care standard to compare those standards against and a pandemic review that may not consider the impacts or implications for continuing care. I'll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on the new national longterm care standard and how it relates to our continuing care programs and standards. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
