4,200 Nova Scotians removed from family doctor wait-list

Invalid health cards primary reason for removal, says Nova Scotia Health

Image | Shutterstock - medium file

Caption: People who were incorrectly removed from the list will not lose their place on the family doctor wait-list, says Nova Scotia Health. (TippaPatt/Shutterstock)

Nova Scotia Health says 4,200 people were removed from the family doctor registry following a recent review.
The review found almost all of those people had invalid health cards, spokesperson Brendan Elliott said in an email to CBC News.
Those people would have received an email informing them of the change. Elliott said there are a number of reasons a health card could be considered invalid, but did not provide any examples.
But he said as long as people can sort out the issues with their health cards, they won't lose their spot on the list.

Image | Family Registry removal screenshot

Caption: A screenshot of an email sent from Nova Scotia Health on June 29 to a resident of the province who was removed from the Need a Family Practice Registry. (Name withheld by request)

The number of Nova Scotians on the doctor wait-list was 148,431, as of June 1, according to a provincial dashboard. This represents 15 per cent of the population.
Elliott said anyone with an expired health card should contact MSI to have it renewed, and then call 811 to have their profile on the registry updated.

Some people removed had valid health cards

But some — about one to two per cent, according to Elliott — of the people who received an email did have valid health cards.
"If anyone with a valid Nova Scotia health card was mistakenly removed, they can call 811 to re-register, and we will ensure their place on the list is maintained," Elliott said.
MORE TOP STORIES