Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to add a few comments in support of this motion. The motion, as it is written, it quite broad and it's aimed at a comprehensive action plan on the part of the government to deal with so many different issues related to recruitment and retention of the health care professionals. But also, I believe this will have implications to the allied health care professionals and other care providers, as well.
Mr. Speaker, I think we are very well aware of the challenges we face, but it's an ongoing task that the government has to work even more stringently than they have done in the past.
Mr. Speaker, also, I think this motion is very broad in terms of trying to get the government to work on this issue that encompasses small communities, as well as the large communities, small nursing stations all across the Territories, as well as a big acute care facility like Stanton Hospital. We do have many, many serious challenges, and I believe this government is already spending a whole lot of money and I think if we could do a better job of spending the money that we are already spending, we should be able to get further ahead.
Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of weeks, the Members have raised questions and brought issues forward about what's been the issues faced in Stanton Hospital. I have already indicated the meetings that I've had, where we've had some real dedicated nurses who have been here for 10, 14, 15, 20 years who are really feeling like their services and what they have to offer are not as appreciated, due to various issues being faced at the hospital. I am looking forward to working with the new Minister and the government about how we can address that issue.
As the chair of the Social Programs committee, I have had preliminary discussions with the Minister about the time frame and the action plan as to how the survey and the review of the human resource management issue there will be conducted and brought forward to the committee and the rest of the Members, and I'm looking forward on quite a tight time schedule to make sure that that happens.
Another issue is the fact that one of the cornerstones of recruiting and retaining nursing professionals has been the Nursing Program at Aurora College, but I have brought up issues dealing with some of the benefit packages for these new nurses that are not at the level that it should be to make sure that they feel wanted and welcome, and also that they get the resources they need as they start their new career. Also, in an effort to incorporate these new nurses, we're asking the more senior nurses to take on extra responsibilities of incorporating these new nurses into the system, and I think that we cannot lose sight of the fact that we are asking the more experienced nurses to do more on top of what their normal job is, and the government has to look into how their needs are addressed.
Of course, Mr. Speaker, we have a continuing issue dealing with a lack of nurses in many, many communities, and the over-reliance on the use of agency nurses, which is bringing up a whole lot of different issues in terms of the differential treatment between the agency nurses and those long-term northern nurses who are here to stay and who have given a lot of their professional and personal life to the well-being of health care delivery in the North, but they're left feeling like they are being treated less fairly or less equitably than the fly-in locum nurses and agency nurses.
I think, Mr. Speaker, we're well aware of the fact that agency nurses and locum nurses are necessary in our day and age when we need to rely on their services, fill the gaps, but I think the current state of affairs is not working well in terms of how we fit in all of the new nurses and the more experienced nurses and agency nurses into this picture. So, Mr. Speaker, I support this motion and I am doing that in an effort to ask the government and the new Minister to look at this issue thoroughly and see where we could improve the system to make best use of the resources we are already spending, better coordinating, and addressing some of the grievances and concerns that the health care professionals will bring forward not just in the human resource revenue that's going on at Stanton, but some of the issues that the Members from smaller communities have brought forward
to this Assembly during this session. So, Mr. Speaker, that is my comments to this motion. Thank you.