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Nova Scotia Health has resumed releasing more detailed information about the province’s need-a-family-practice registry after a 21-month pause that officials said was required to ensure the list’s accuracy.
Data released Wednesday shows that 61,947 people were in need of a doctor or nurse practitioner as of April 1. That’s down from 63,221 at the beginning of March and represents an 8.8 per cent decline from this time 12 months ago.
For the first time in more than a year and a half, the list includes details broken down into the four health zones.
There are 17,856 people on the registry in the western zone, representing 8.0 per cent of that region’s population. The eastern zone has 14,716 people on the list (8.3% of the population), the northern zone has 13,395 (7.6%) and the central zone has 15,980 (3.1%) in need of a family practice.
More detailed community breakdowns have also returned to the monthly report, although they are not as broad as what was included in previous reports.
Data for April shows declines in need in many areas, with a few exceptions. The need went up most notably in Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto (by 929 people) and Pictou County (384) compared to last month.
The biggest decreases were in Bedford/Sackville (down by 2,155 people compared to last month), Cape Breton County (down 247), Annapolis and Kings (down 188) and Yarmouth/Shelburne/Digby (down by 153 people).
The areas with the greatest demand based on percentage of population are Pictou County (14.8%), Cape Breton County (10.5%) and Queens and Lunenburg (9.8%).
Areas with the lowest demand include Dartmouth/Southeastern (1.7%), Eastern Shore Musquodoboit (2.0%), Bedford/Sackville (2.6%) and Inverness/Victoria/Richmond (2.8%).
Detailed data release suspended to validate registry
Prior to Wednesday’s information release, the health authority has been releasing just a global number each month to represent the size of the registry, with no other details.
It suspended more detailed information releases 21 months ago because officials said they needed to validate the list to ensure the people on it still needed a family practice and there were no duplications, and because they wanted to gather a sense of what level of care each person on the registry required.
Officials have never disclosed how many people were removed from the registry during the validation process because they didn’t need a family practice.
One thing that’s not included in the new dataset is the number of patients considered to have pending status. That’s the term the health authority uses for a patient who has been assigned to a family practice but has yet to have their first appointment.
A report earlier this year from Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair found that a change was made in 2024 — but not publicly announced — to no longer count patients considered pending as part of the registry.
The Health Department only acknowledged the change this past January, the day before Adair’s report was released.
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