Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hopefully we still have some healthcare workers that have hung on and are continuing to watch because I would like to ask some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services around healthcare workforce planning.
So we know that there are almost 50 percent vacancy rates for local family physicians and specialists in the territory, and the health authority has been saying that that might not be a problem because maybe we don't need that many doctors if patients are sometimes better off seeing another practitioner instead such as a nurse.
My question, first, when will we know exactly how many doctor positions we should be aiming for and how many of each kind of nurse positions we should be aiming for in each community region and across the NWT as a whole? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's always the aim of the NTHSSA to fill all funded position vacancies first with permanent staff living in the territory and, where that's not possible, to try to attempt to hire recurrent locums. The work of the primary care reform is to match primary care needs of the communities with access to the right providers to meet those needs. And as needs change, like aging population, chronic disease burdens, mental health conditions, practices change, expanded scope of providers, new technologies, the mix and number of people to deliver that care will shift. But right now it's too early to determine the future for family physicians given the changes in our primary care model. More funded positions for family physicians may be needed but it's also possible that they won't. While there's currently vacancies, we aren't turning any primary care physicians away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we also know that as of June of last year, nurse vacancy rates ranged from 23 percent to 36 percent, depending on the type of nurse. And that's alarming enough, but if nurses are now expected to take on even more of a role in seeing patients, if there's a shortage of doctors, is the Minister confident that we currently even have enough nurse positions established, let alone the ability to fill them? So in other words, could the gap between the number of nurses we have and the number of nurses we need be even greater than those vacancy rates are showing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned with the physicians, we aim to fill all funded nursing vacancies. But as we continue to refine the models of care and move forward with primary care reform, we'll be in a better position to ensure that staffing reflects the needs of the community. And as I mentioned in this House many times, changing in the small communities, nursing has changed over many, many years. So whereas before when I started in my career 20 years ago, the nurses in all of the Beaufort Delta when I used to be able to be on the phone with them, talk with them in the emergency department, they had been in those communities, they were living in those communities, they were permanent living in those communities, and now what we're seeing is many people do not come and move to those communities. And that's why the effort of trying to promote and work with Indigenous people that are from those communities to go to school, to get trained, and go back to their communities. We have some great success stories in the Northwest Territories. But in the regional centres, you don't see -- the vacancies are not as high. In the capital, they're, you know, in the 8:30 to 5 clinics, those kinds of positions, they're not as high. It is a lot of work for shift workers, and some shift workers -- nurses come into the -- to nursing, and they leave within a couple of years because it's just not for them. Many people do that in many careers, and right now health care is hard work, it is busy, there is a lot. People are sicker, rooms are full, emergencies are full. So it is going to take a -- there is a lot of work to do with primary care and it's got to also -- you know, where we're trying to focus is in the small communities because that is where we see the biggest gaps. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the health authority tracking the number of expected retirements of doctors and nurses over the next three years in order to target its recruitment and workforce planning efforts appropriately? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, GNWT regularly tracks current and historical retirement rates as well as current retirement eligibility and retirement eligibility in the next five to ten years as it reflects in the GNWT public service annual report. The NTHSSA also tracks staffing levels throughout quarterly vacancy reviews. Managers are asked to identify any current or anticipated vacancies within a six-month timeframe to support proactive recruitment, minimize service disruptions, and facilitate smooth transition and handover periods. And I can contest to that because I used to do that. Part of this upcoming 2025-2028 people strategy scheduled for -- is scheduled for launch next fiscal year, and NTHSSA is exploring opportunities to strengthen succession planning and a support staff development within the system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
