N.S. Health removes family doctor waitlist information from data reporting website

The recent removal of data about the number of people seeking a family doctor from Nova Scotia Health’s public reporting website has caused concern among members of the NDP party. The information, which was previously available on the Action for Health public reporting website, has not been updated since last June. Nova Scotia Health paused the updates to validate whether everyone on the list still needed a doctor.

Instead of updating the dashboard, the health authority has been issuing news releases at the beginning of each month to provide updates on the numbers. However, these releases lack the detailed information that was previously available on the dashboard, such as the need broken down by community and the reasons why people were removed from or added to the waitlist.

As of February, 104,324 people in Nova Scotia were looking for a family doctor. The tab displaying this information has now been removed from the dashboard. Health Minister Michelle Thompson stated that this is the current method of communication, and once the validation work is complete, they will assess the best way to provide ongoing updates.

NDP Leader Claudia Chender expressed concern over the removal of the list, describing it as part of a pattern of secrecy and reduced accountability by the Progressive Conservatives. She emphasized the importance of community-level detail so that people can understand what is happening across the province and evaluate the government’s efforts to improve the healthcare system.

Liberal House leader Iain Rankin suggested that the removal of the list was politically motivated and questioned the government’s ability to reduce the number of people on the waitlist below 70,000, the size it was when the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2021. Health Minister Thompson stated that while she does not believe the list will ever reach zero, her goal is to reduce it to below five percent of the provincial population, which would equate to around 50,000 people.

The debate over the removal of the data highlights the ongoing challenges in the healthcare system in Nova Scotia and the importance of transparency and accountability in addressing these issues. It remains to be seen how Nova Scotia Health will move forward in providing updates on the number of people seeking a family doctor and what measures will be taken to improve access to primary care in the province.