New figures show the waitlist for a doctor is at a record high.
The list is now over 116,000 people in our province, the new figure adds over 5,000 people to the list compared to September’s numbers.
It was a central topic during question period on Tuesday, as NDP Leader Claudia Chender pushed for answers on doctor recruitment in Nova Scotia.
However, Premier Tim Houston pointed to the tall task his government faces and the expansion of virtual care to open access to doctors.
“Thousands of people are happy they have that mechanism; we’ll continue to build on it. There’s work to be done…but there is work being done as well.” said Houston.
Premier Tim Houston responds to a question in the Nova Scotia legislature on October 19, 2022.
VirtualCareNS was expanded to include all regions of the province last year after launching as a pilot in select regions.
“Ask anyone in this province with any serious medical condition whether a walk-in clinic or virtual care and no continuous health care and every single one of them will say no,” said Chender.
Nova Scotia Health is attributing the expanding list to a combination of a growing population and retirements. In the Halifax area, there are more than 47,000 people in need of a family physician.
In the western part of the province more than 32,000 need a doctor.
The Cape Breton region has more than 13,000 on the list.
Nova Scotia Health graphic
This waitlist has grown by about 40,000 since last year and the total number represents more than 11 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population.
