Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The discussion on hiring health care professionals in our health system has been a long outstanding issue, particularly with regard to retention and recruitment. Mr. Speaker, for today my topic will relate to misdiagnosis of patients by nurses in small communities. I know that nurses do the best they can, but there's always room for improvement in how we treat patients in our communities. I'm aware of three individual cases from Tuktoyaktuk where patients complained of stomach pain and were diagnosed and told it was just a sprain or ulcer. Mr. Speaker, in these cases all three individuals were eventually medevaced out of the community and had to have immediate surgery.
I would like to discuss one case in particular of a young 16-and-a-half-year-old individual who was vibrant and active in sports. He complained of pain in his stomach to his parents. An appointment was made at the health centre and the outcome was he probably sprained something in his stomach which would heal in time. Mr. Speaker, the pain continued for over one week and once again an appointment was made at the local health centre. Eventually the nurse in charge decided to send him to the Inuvik Regional Hospital for a check-up with a doctor. On his arrival to the hospital, this young individual's appendix burst. This created complications during the operation and consequently the young individual ended up in the hospital for one month for recovery, let alone be medevaced to Yellowknife three times, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the parents took time off from work and flew to Inuvik to be with their son while he was recovering from the operation. Not once did a doctor give an update on their son's recovery to the parents during this time. I'd like to report today, Mr. Speaker, that this young person is slowly gaining weight and is becoming active in sports again. Mr. Speaker, if the nurses reacted sooner about the complaint, this young person would not have suffered so much. To me this was a complete misdiagnosis by the nurse in Tuktoyaktuk.
In incidents like this, Mr. Speaker, any patient that complains of pain in their body should have the opportunity to be diagnosed by a doctor. This kind of situation should not be tolerated in small communities regardless if the case may be different, and the nurses may be able to make appointments with a doctor.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to see any more patients going through what this young person or the parents went through in this ordeal. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.