The provincial government says it has completed work validating people on the registry of those in need of a family doctor, and plans to offer more full-some monthly reports moving forward.
In an update on Monday afternoon, Health Minister Michelle Thompson announced the registry has become a “dynamic patient management tool” that will support connecting Nova Scotia to the care they need every month.
“Over the last few years, a lot of work has been done to transform the registry from a basic list into a useful tool that actually helps connect Nova Scotians with the care they need,” she said. “Now, we have a patient support tool focused on what really matters – timely, effective connection to primary care. We’ll continue to build on these improvements to further develop the registry into the best tool it can be.”
The department says as of Jan. 1, there were 66,768 Nova Scotians remaining on the registry seeking a family doctor.
It also says, over the past nine months, more than 50,000 Nova Scotians whose family practitioner was retiring or closing their practice were attached to a new provider rather than being put on the registry.
Moving forward, monthly registry reports are going to include details, including the number of new registrants and their reasons for joining, the number of people attached to a provider, the net change in the registry and more.
In a statement, interim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin took issue with the update.
“Organizing the list isn’t the same as fixing the problem,” Rankin said. “After more than doubling, the list is now back to where it began when this government took office. That’s not the progress Nova Scotians were promised, and not what they expect to see after billionsin healthcare spending.”
Nova Scotia Health has also announced it has issued a request for proposals for a digital solution to improve access and navigation within primary, urgent and emergency healthcare, including VirtualCareNS, VirtualEmergencyNS, virtual urgent care, the Need a Family Practice Registry and the rapid onboarding program.