Mr. Speaker, I am also in receipt of Return to Written Question 24-15(4) asked by Mr. David Ramsay on February 6, 2006, to Honourable Michael Miltenberger, Minister of Health and Social Services, regarding locum nurses in the NWT.
In 2004-2005, the Short-Term Agency Nurse Placement Program was designed and implemented to assist the health and social services authorities to avoid closures within their community health centres and clinics. The regional authorities have difficulty finding qualified nurses to fill permanent positions or to provide relief in community health centres. If a regional authority has used all other methods of trying to staff a position temporarily and face potential closures or major reductions in service, they use agency nurses through the Short-Term Agency Nurse Placement Program.
Before the implementation of the Short-Term Agency Nurse Placement Program, the authorities maintained their own relief pools. Relief nurses were primarily brought in as casual employees by the authorities. Nurses in those pools covered all types of employee leave such as vacation, sick, special, or educational, in addition to providing coverage for vacant positions. It is impossible for the government to identify how many nurses were used to cover vacancies rather than cover for a nurse on leave.
Through the Short-Term Agency Nurse Placement Program, NWT authorities spent $580,632 in agency fees for 53 nurses in 2004-2005. Agency fees for 2005-2006, as of November 2005, are $354,037 for 40 nurses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.