The Health Authority released its latest update to the Need A Family Practice Waitlist in mid-October.
As of October 1st, 144,467 Nova Scotians are on the waitlist for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. This represents 14.6 percent of the population.
It’s an increase of 2,010 people over September’s numbers. (In September, the number dropped by a lot, most likely due to NS Health efforts to contact people on the list to make sure they still lived in the province and still needed a doctor.). You can see the latest graphics on my social media pages.
This month: In the Central Zone, nearly 1900 people were added to the waitlist from all corners of the zone. The Central Zone waitlist now sits at 70,471. Only in West Hants did the numbers go down (by 31).
The Bedford/Sackville network continues to see some of the highest percentages in the province of residents not connected to a family practice. In Bedford/ Hammonds Plains and Sackville North and area, 18.9 percent lack a family doctor or nurse practitioner. In Sackville South, 18.8 percent of the population lacks a family practice.
For context: when the current government took over in September 2021 — vowing to fix healthcare — there were 75,000 people on the waitlist. Today that number has nearly doubled. Back in 2021, 18,220 people in Central Zone didn’t have a doctor. Now that’s up to over 70,000. Back in September 2021, 4.4 percent of Bedford/Sackville residents didn’t have a family practice. Now 17.7 percent do not — that’s an increase of 363 percent.