Health Department not supporting health services workers in caring for residents

Press Release

Iqaluit, 7 March 2017—The Department of Health has not been providing nurses and other health care personnel with the support they need to care for Nunavummiut, says Mr. James McKenzie, Principal of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, in an audit report presented to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut today. The audit examined whether community health nurses and other front line workers in Nunavut’s health care centres were receiving the support they needed, including orientation and training and safe working conditions, to be able to carry out their jobs.

“We found that the Department of Health was not giving nurses and other health care personnel the support needed to properly care for the residents of Nunavut,” said Mr. McKenzie. “While the Department of Health had procedures for reviewing and improving the quality of health services, these procedures were seldom followed.”

The audit found that the Department did not ensure that staff had the training they needed to carry out their work. For example, gaps in the training of X-ray image takers meant that X-rays were of poor quality for diagnostic purposes. The Department also did not create positive working conditions for health care personnel, such as managing the safety risks they face, as when working alone at night. In addition, some communities had grown over time, but the Department had not assessed whether health care centres still had the right number and types of staff to meet the needs of communities.

The audit also found that the Department of Health and the Department of Finance were not effective in staffing vacant positions. As of 2016, 46 percent of health care positions were vacant, including nursing posts. On average, it took a year and a half to fill a vacant position. Some positions, including nursing positions, remained vacant for many years.

“We made a number of recommendations in the report, some of which address long-standing issues. The Department of Health and the Department of Finance agreed with our recommendations,” said Mr. McKenzie. “The successful implementation of these recommendations, as well as recent initiatives being undertaken by the Department of Health, will be important to strengthening the delivery of health care services in Nunavut.”

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The report “Health Care Services—Nunavut” is available on the Office of the Auditor General of Canada website.

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