Advertisement

Nova Scotia promises better care with revamped family doctor wait-list

FILE - The Canadian Medical Association estimates there’s about 6.5 million people in the country without a family doctor or nurse practitioner. . Christopher Katsarov/ CP

The Nova Scotia government is revamping the way its family doctor wait-list works and says it will connect patients to a health-care provider more quickly.

Health Minister Michelle Thompson says the old list was just a static collection of names that didn’t have much information about the patients or their health situations.

Now when people join the list, health officials will speak with them about their needs, a change the government says will provide better and faster care.

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.

Get weekly health news

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The government says 50,000 people in the last nine months tried to sign up because their family doctor was retiring, but they were quickly reassigned, eliminating the need to join the wait-list at all.

There’s almost 66,000 Nova Scotians on the wait-list, down from more than 160,000 about 18 months ago.

The Canadian Medical Association estimates there’s about 6.5 million people in the country without a family doctor or nurse practitioner.

Story continues below advertisement
Click to play video: 'Group wants to make it easier for international trained physicians to work in Nova Scotia'
Group wants to make it easier for international trained physicians to work in Nova Scotia

Sponsored content

AdChoices