Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are related to my Member's statement regarding diagnosis at small community health centres. I note the vision of the health department is for best health, best care for a better future. One of the values is caring, which states we treat everyone compassion, respect, fairness, and dignity. Another value is accountability, which states system outcomes are measured, assessed, and publicly reported on.
Mr. Speaker, I have repeatedly been asking the health department if they would consider conducting professional evaluations on the delivery of health care, especially in all the small centres, to no avail. I ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if she will give direction to the department to begin to develop a system to conduct professional evaluations of all small health centres and that these be conducted on a yearly basis. Mahsi.
Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we have to take a step back from this question and the efforts that this Member has made, and which I appreciate him making, to try and improve the quality of health care in small communities like his.
What I see is that there is a historic mistrust of the health and social services system, which I understand. It has very deep roots and despite our best efforts at cultural training, cultural sensitivity, and antiracism training, those problems persist. And it is my goal to live up to those values which the Member enunciated in the preamble to his question.
What I have seen work in the time, that I have been health minister, is developing relationships between the chief operating officers of the regions and the people in the communities that those regions serve. And so it's my hope that the Member will reach out to the chief operating officer of the Deh Cho region, get to know her, and to talk to her about his concerns so that relationshipbased care has a place to start for him in improving the relationship between the health and social services system, himself, and his community. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Of course it's another case of passing the buck, getting me to do the work of her department. The Minister herself should be relaying these messages to all the health and social services authorities.
Mr. Speaker, one of the values of the health department is accountability in that system outcomes, and I'm stating it again, are measured, assessed, and publicly reported on, and that sounds like an evaluation type of value.
Can the Minister apprise this House and the residents of the Northwest Territories when we may see fruition of the department's value of accountability? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have layers of mechanisms to ensure that the services that we deliver are appropriate, culturally safe, and effective. We have, of course, the new patient advocates. We have the office of client experience, which will look into particular complaints of the kind the Member has brought forward. The people who work in the health centres are licensed by regulatory bodies. Those bodies have complaint processes. We also, of course, are accredited on a regular basis. The next accreditation exercise will take place in September. So accountability is happening at many different levels in the health system, and we strive for continuous performance improvement to better meet the needs of the NWT. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the young person I spoke of in my Member's statement is one example of how the health care system is failing our residents despite the vision of best health, best care for a better future.
Can the Minister explain what the health department is doing to provide the best care, the best health care that speaks of compassion, that speaks of respect, that speaks of fairness and, most of all, that speaks of dignity of our residents. Mahsi.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a department with over 1,800 staff and a $610 million budget. So I don't know if the Member really wants me to explain everything that we're doing to serve the residents of the Northwest Territories. I support, and our staff supports, the goals that he has enunciated that people are treated with respect, with dignity. They are provided with effective care that resolves their issues.
Diagnosis is a really complicated process. It can vary between a practitioner being able to look at somebody and diagnose an ailment almost immediately to something that is much more complex beyond the skills and equipment available in local health centres, and that's when people are medevaced or referred to Yellowknife for additional treatment.
We, I think, are trying our best. We don't always get it right. I really encourage the Member, as I did previously when he brought this case to my attention, to contact the office of client experience. We want to learn from things, which people are dissatisfied with or consider mistakes, so that we can improve the services we provide to all NWT residents. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Final short supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I realize the health care system is stretched and that health care professionals are in short supply, including doctors and registered nurses. Can the Minister update this House in its efforts to attract health care professionals to the North? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have that information to hand so I will write the Member a letter. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
