N.S. need-a-family-practice registry hits another high as government rolls out new data

The number of people in Nova Scotia waiting to be paired with a family medicine practice set another all-time record on Friday.

There are now 142,262 people on the registry, or about 14.3 per cent of the provincial population. The list increased by 3.4 per cent from last month. It stood at 77,696 in October 2021, shortly after the Progressive Conservatives formed government and promised to fix health care.

"The list is growing. We're not hiding that," Health Minister Michelle Thompson told reporters in Halifax on Friday.

"We see it month over month. But we also want folks to understand that access points are improving so that it is not that you don't have access to care if you are in fact on that list."

System capacity is growing

The provincial government also changed the way it displays information about people who don't have a family doctor. Rather than update it through a monthly dedicated release, the numbers, along with details about how many people have used online health-care services or visited mobile clinics, for instance, are being included on the province's website that includes a variety of health-care data sets.

The website for health-care data also compiles information on things such as the number of surgeries performed in the province to whether hospitals are over their occupancy limits

The website will begin providing the number of visits to clinics located in pharmacies next month and officials said the amount of information on the website will increase as time goes on.

"I think it's important that people see — No. 1 — the access points," said Thompson.

"But also, that the capacity is obviously growing over time, that we are committed to improving access points, particularly for those on the list."

Liberal MLA Braedon Clark said having more information available for the public is a good thing, but he doesn't find the most recent details very reassuring.

"The minister talks a lot about access versus attachment [to a family practice] and I think the reality is Nova Scotians want attachment," he told reporters. "They want a permanent, ongoing relationship with a family doctor that they can count on."

NDP health critic Susan Leblanc said in a news release that the number of people on the registry would continue to climb until the government "takes meaningful action" to connect people with family care teams.

"It's disappointing that [Premier Tim] Houston's budget didn't include any clear investment that will make a significant difference in decreasing the number of Nova Scotians on the list."

Reviewing the registry

Thompson said efforts continue to recruit doctors, nurse practitioners and other professionals for collaborative care teams, but she said the system is evolving and that means there will continue to be a variety of ways for people to get care depending on their given situation.

Meanwhile, the minister said officials in her department are looking at each person on the registry to find an individual solution.

"It's important that we understand who is on that list and we're able to, in some ways, triage them," said Thompson.

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