<div dir="ltr"><h1>Despite improvements, language gaps at QGH continue: Nunavut minister</h1>
<h2>“It’s a continual challenge to make sure the staff we have are familiar with terminology"</h2>STEVE DUCHARME
<div class="gmail-caption gmail-right" style="width:568px"><img src="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/pub/photos/HickesFeb24_570.jpg" alt="Nunavut Health Minister George Hickes said language services at the Qikiqtani General Hospital are improving, but his department still has work to do on the issue. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME)" width="568" height="375"><br>Nunavut
Health Minister George Hickes said language services at the Qikiqtani
General Hospital are improving, but his department still has work to do
on the issue. (PHOTO BY STEVE DUCHARME) </div><p>Nunavut’s health
minister, George Hickes, says his department is making progress in
responding to complaints of poor language services at the Qikiqtani
General Hospital, brought to light last year in a <a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674inuktitut_french-speaking_patients_receive_inferior_care_at_iqaluit_ho/" title="critical report by the Office of the Nunavut Languages Commissioner.">critical report by the Office of the Nunavut Languages Commissioner.</a></p>
<p>But there is still much to do, Hickes said.</p>
<p>“Are we satisfied where we are now? No,” Hickes said in response to
questions Feb. 24 from Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu MLA Pat Angnakak in Nunavut’s
legislature.</p>
<p>“There are gaps, I recognize that and its something I deal with on a continual basis.”</p>
<p>Nunavut’s Office of the Language Commissioner, in a report tabled in
May 2016, discovered that Nunavut’s largest hospital effectively had no
language policy, as revealed in an investigation covering the period
from March 2012 to March 2013.</p>
<p>Most hospital services were only available in English, the report
found, resulting in severe problems for non-English, unilingual
Inuktitut speakers in communicating and receiving treatment at the
hospital.</p>
<p>“There is often a lack of Inuktitut interpretation at the hospital,
especially for in-patients who have to stay there for an extended period
of time,” Angnakak said, asking if Hickes could provide the chamber
with exact numbers for translators working at the hospital.</p>
<p>Hickes replied that the number in interpreters available at QGH
fluctuates, saying that often “we have to rely on casual workers.”</p>
<p>Specialized terminology for interpreters is currently taught in
dedicated modules at the Nunavut Arctic College interpreter-translator
program, which currently provides specialized terminology modules for
its students, and Hickes, who called on more Nunavummiut to consider
careers in the field.</p>
<p>“It’s a continual challenge to make sure the staff we have are
familiar with terminology so that they can express in a clear and
concise manner to our patients to make sure that they are aware and
understand the circumstances,” he said.</p>
<p>Providing French-language services, Hickes admitted, is another matter entirely.</p>
<p>“One of the challenges that we have, providing French services, it
can be a more infrequent request than Inuktitut services,” he said.</p>
<p>“We do rely on existing staff to provide and supplement the
translation services for French,” Hickes said, adding the health
department is in the process of hiring a French speaker for its Office
of Patient Relations.</p>
<p>Nunavut MLAs created the office in 2013 in an effort to address <a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674after_years_of_grievance_nunavut_launches_new_patient_complaint_office/" title="longstanding, often-ignored grievances">longstanding, often-ignored grievances</a> from patients and families of patients.</p>
<p>Hickes credited the office for reducing the number of complaints and identifying key areas of concern for his department.</p>
<p>“I can say with all confidence that the conditions are more open and
more conducive to positive relationships with our patients,” he said.</p>
<p>“Personally I don’t get as many complaints as I’m sure former ministers may have had.”</p>
<p>While the complaints might be ebbing, health care in Nunavut and its
sensitivity to non-English cultures was once again dragged to the
forefront after a coroner’s report—released earlier in February—included<a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674gn_health_care_failures_led_to_mothers_death_nunavut_couple_says/" title="language services"> language services</a> as a contributing factor in the death of Annie Kootoo in 2015.</p>
<p>Hickes, responding to questions from Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Paul Okalik, said Feb. 22 in committee of the whole that <a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674iqaluit_womans_death_heartbreaking_nunavut_health_minister_says/" title="Kootoo’s death was “heartbreaking.”">Kootoo’s death was “heartbreaking.”</a></p>
<p>“Just for the sake of the public and for all members here, we don’t
wait to react to reports such as this,” Hickes said, saying his
department’s review of Nunavut Coroner Padma Suramala’s report on the
incident is already underway.</p><p><a href="http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674despite_improvements_language_gaps_at_nunavut_hospital_continue_health/">http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674despite_improvements_language_gaps_at_nunavut_hospital_continue_health/</a><br></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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