{"id":435625,"date":"2026-01-27T03:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T03:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435625\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T03:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T03:34:10","slug":"n-s-family-practice-registry-will-resume-detailed-reporting-in-april","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/435625\/","title":{"rendered":"N.S. family practice registry will resume detailed reporting in April"},"content":{"rendered":"

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More detailed reports about Nova Scotia\u2019s need-a-family-practice registry will resume in April, although opposition MLAs continue to raise questions about the accuracy of the list.<\/p>\n

Health Minister Michelle Thompson told reporters Monday that the 18-month validation process is now complete, which included directly contacting more than 160,000 people to confirm they still needed to be on the list.<\/p>\n

The result, she said, is a more useful tool that helps connect patients with primary care faster, although she and other officials could not provide statistics Monday about what the average wait is until someone is matched with a health care provider.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the process of contacting people directly helps determine their health-care needs and can inform how quickly they\u2019re matched with a doctor or nurse practitioner. In other cases, she said, \u201cpotential issues are quickly resolved and registration isn\u2019t needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one left off the registry<\/p>\n

That does not mean, however, that anyone without a provider will be prevented from joining the registry, Thompson told reporters during a briefing Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place that that would happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not leaving people off the list.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of this month there were 66,768 people on the registry.<\/p>\n

Thompson said the validation process also helped keep about 50,000 people from joining the registry in the last nine months. In those cases, a provider was preparing to retire or close their practice and a replacement could be recruited for their patients.<\/p>\n

This process, referred to as stabilization, should help do away with people preemptively adding their names to the list when they learn their provider plans to retire, reporters were told. An official with the health authority said a group of patients is only considered stabilized when there is \u201can active and known plan\u201d to move them to a new provider.<\/p>\n

\"AInterim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin does not think someone should be removed from the registry until they’ve had their initial appointment with a new provider. (Paul Poirier\/CBC)<\/p>\n

Officials also confirmed Monday that when a patient is matched with a provider but has yet to have their initial appointment, they\u2019re considered \u201cpending\u201d attachment and no longer counted in the registry total. Details about how many people are currently considered pending were not provided.<\/p>\n

Thompson said a new provider has up to a year to have that first appointment, but she encouraged patients who have a pressing medical need to contact the office of their new provider.<\/p>\n

Interim Liberal Leader Iain Rankin said he does not think the government should be removing people from the registry until they\u2019ve met with their new nurse practitioner or doctor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think true attachment is when you can book an appointment with a provider and see them within weeks, if not days,\u201d he said in an interview.<\/p>\n

\"ANDP health critic Rod Wilson remains concerned about the accuracy of the registry. (CBC)<\/p>\n

NDP health critic Rod Wilson said the way the government will be reporting the list continues to give him concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does raise the question has the need-a-family-practice registry been massaged because people are put on another list,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wilson said he was pleased to learn Monday that the expanded reporting in April will include details broken down by health zone and health network, as opposed to the single number for the entire province.<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s update, provided virtually because of Monday\u2019s weather, came the day before Auditor General Kim Adair is scheduled to release a report on the reliability of performance indicators the government posts online related to its efforts to fix the health-care system.<\/p>\n

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