Over 52,000 Nova Scotians Await Family Doctors as Registry Participation Remains Voluntary
More than 52,000 people in Nova Scotia are on the Need a Family Practice Registry waiting for a family doctor. While physicians are encouraged to accept patients from the list, participation is not mandatory because most operate as private practices, prompting some residents to seek care through alternative means.
More than 52,000 Nova Scotians are currently on the wait list for the Need a Family Practice Registry, seeking access to a family doctor. The registry was created almost 10 years ago by Health Nova Scotia to centralize patients without a family doctor and ease administrative burdens on healthcare providers during patient onboarding.
Doctors in the province are encouraged but not required to take patients from the registry because most operate as private practices. Amanda MacDonald Green, president of Doctors Nova Scotia, stated that most doctors use the registry and feel an ethical obligation to pull patients from it.
Because participation is voluntary, some residents have found doctors through alternative means. Myles Cloutier secured two different family doctors through word of mouth and by calling offices that had posted signs indicating they were accepting new patients. Residents who find doctors outside the registry have expressed frustration with the inequity of the system.
Others face prolonged waits. Martyn Williams and his family waited over three years on the registry before finding care through a mobile clinic recommendation, though Williams himself remains on the list. Patients experience stress and uncertainty regarding access to primary care while waiting, and some rely on walk-in clinics and pop-up clinics when unable to secure a family doctor.
Health officials report that thousands of people leave the registry monthly. In September, Nova Scotia Health reported that 7,895 people were attached to health-care providers and 4,655 were marked as resolved registrants, totaling 12,550 people off the registry. Katie Heckman, director of clinical networks at Nova Scotia Health, attributed recent progress to a record number of new doctor recruitments.