SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
If the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission has its way, workers in the North will no longer require a primary health-care provider in order to get compensation.

The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission is looking for feedback on nine proposed changes to worker's comp legislation by Dec. 9. One of the changes would eliminate a requirement for workers claiming compensation have a primary physician. Construction continued on Twin Pine Hill earlier this year. - NNSL file photo

"Currently the legislation says, and the citation is in the document, that a worker who's injured must have a physician or a dentist, being his or her primary health-care provider, and take responsibility for diagnosing the worker's condition and developing a treatment plan," said Shirley Walsh, general counsel for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC).

This person, she said, will act as a point person, co-ordinating referrals and followups.

"That's not unusual I think in larger centres," said Walsh.

But this doesn't always work well in the North, which is why this change appears along with nine other proposed amendments to the Workers Compensation Act of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The changes are currently under public consultation. The Act hasn't undergone a substantial review since 2008.

Walsh said in many smaller communities there are no full-time dentists or physicians - instead, people will see a nurse or a nurse practitioner.

In larger centers like Yellowknife, she says, when patients book appointments at the Yellowknife Primary Care Center, they're not guaranteed to see the same doctor every time.

"If you had to see the exact same doctor every single time, you're probably going to be waiting quite a while," she said. "It would be onerous on that worker to have to come back to that same doctor, always get an appointment with that same doctor, to have them co-ordinate."

Walsh is quick to point out that no one, as far as she knows, has ever been denied compensation based on this, because she says the commission doesn't strictly follow legislation.

The change in wording around primary physicians could also affect another part of the legislation that gives the WSCC the ability to ask a worker to switch doctors. Walsh said the WSCC could, under the current legislation, require someone to see a different doctor if the WSCC felt the doctor was referring the patient for tests or treatments that weren't necessary, not referring them for treatments or tests that could aid their care, or if the physician wasn't being responsive to the WSCC.

"We can't require a worker to stop seeing a doctor, because workers have the ability to see whoever they want to see. We can require that they see somebody else that we need them to see, for our purposes. You see the distinction?" said Walsh, elaborating that the WSCC can ask a patient to see an additional doctor to fits the WSCC's needs.

According to the WSCC, no other jurisdictions have provisions in legislation like this.

"I don't know if we'd necessarily change the ability for us to have a worker go see a different doctor or a different health-care provider if we saw that the person that they were currently seeing wasn't actually providing us with the information that we needed," said Walsh. "We haven't drilled down to what exactly the legislation will look like, and that's why we're doing the consultations."

A public meeting was held in Yellowknife on Thursday. The consultation, which ends on Dec. 9, also includes a questionnaire, available online.

Also up for potential changes is the definition of employer, personal injury and disability, clarification around employment insurance and changes to the limitation period for a request for review of a decision.

The changes, if approved, would come into effect next year.

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