Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I noted in my Member's statement earlier today, the previous health Minister committed a year ago to bring changes to the pharmacists' scope of practice for early in the life of the 20th Assembly. How much progress has the health department made since the previous Minister's commitment, and well, that's my first question, Mr. Speaker.
Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. An advisory committee has been established with the pharmacists appointed by the NWT Pharmaceutical Association to collaborate with the department officials. The advisory committee operates under clear terms of reference and reviews and advises on issues identified during the development and drafting instructions and regulations under the Health and Social Services Profession Act.
To date, this group has convened ten times to address this mandate. As well as through the work of bringing more professionals under the Health and Social Services Profession Act, the GNWT is committed to ensuring NWT residents have the confidence of health and social services system and the people caring for them by having clear rules in place for how professionals are licensed and maintain standards of care and competency. Clear standards for licensing, care, competency, complaints, discipline help increase the confidence that patients, practitioners, and partner organizations have in health and social services by improving safety and accountability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that answer. I do appreciate hearing that there's progress being made.
Mr. Speaker, what kind of scope is the department looking to give pharmacists here in the territory; is it comparable to jurisdictions on the higher end of the scale such as Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Alberta?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the scope of practice being considered is in line with the scope of other jurisdictions. The work will hopefully align the Northwest Territories with best practice and establish standards with the rest of Canada provides practitioners and patients and an understanding of what's required and expected of professionals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm very happy to hear that from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to a timeline of six months that being August 2024 to get these new regulations into force?
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the work required to bring regulations in is a minimum of two years. What we are projecting is a 2025 comeintoforce date for the pharmacy regulations, and we are very pleased with the support and commitment of the pharmacists' working group with the department to move this work forward as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary.
Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.
