Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last October, my colleague from Yellowknife North expressed frustration with the lack of transparency on what changes are made for improvement based on data collected by the Office of Client Experience and also with past iterations of the NWT patient experience questionnaire. While I am happy that the desire to understand the patient experience continues, Mr. Speaker, and while the 2025 questionnaire Have Your Say website notes that a what-we-heard report will be produced that will guide delivery -- service delivery and quality improvements, I want to get back to an even more foundational question: Are we asking the right questions?
The two survey options were explain your last appointment in the outpatient questionnaire and an inpatient questionnaire for folks who stayed at NWT hospitals for at least one overnight stay. Most people's primary care experience would fit into the former, and that is my focus today.
I understand that HSS tracks 40 performance indicators on behalf of the health and social services system since 2019, Mr. Speaker, but to understand the patient experience in the NWT, we have to dive deeper than just what happened during a one-off appointment.
I consider myself a frequent user of the health system, and I have good experiences and not so great ones, Mr. Speaker. As we hear in this House regularly, there's too many not so great ones. In assessing those less positive experiences, it's crucial that people are able to give meaningful feedback.
Mr. Speaker, when the 2025 patient experience questionnaire was promoted on GNWT social media, one comment I saw really stuck with me. Quote, sadly, this survey misses what really matters, how the system works over time across multiple points of care. It doesn't ask about the ease of moving through typical, sometimes iterative processes from booking an appointment to getting referrals, results, and treatment. It doesn't explore patients' deeper experiences, especially patients with complex needs. I hope HSS considers more substantive structured engagement with the public to complement these annual surveys. End quote. I could not put it any better myself, Mr. Speaker.
My constituents who are frequent users of the health system flag consistently the need for better continuity of care. It's best to map that journey with feedback from the people who are experiencing it. I will have questions for the Minister of health at the appropriate time. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.
