Nova Scotians needing primary care aren’t getting the full picture: NDP

HALIFAX – A Freedom of Information Request by the NSNDP shows that over 4,200 additional people signed onto the Need A Family Practice waitlist in March of this year. A Nova Scotia Health release from April claims the list decreased by 2,193 people during the same period.

“People are rightly frustrated as they struggle to get the health care they need, and inaccurate information from this government surely isn’t helping,” said Official Opposition Leader Claudia Chender. “Over 4,200 Nova Scotians added their names to the list in one month but the government is only disclosing the number of people being removed from the list. People need to understand what’s actually happening and when they can realistically expect to get attached to primary care. Sadly, the Houston government seems more interested in convincing Nova Scotians that they’re doing a good job than accurately representing the situation.”

It’s been over a year since the Houston government stopped updating the online dashboard, which provided a detailed breakdown of the number of individuals on the registry. They subsequently removed public access to the historical data by taking the Need a Family Practice dashboard offline in February.

“For a government elected to fix health care, they aren’t sharing important information with people. Nova Scotians should be able to see when and how improvements are being made, and when they aren’t," said Chender. “The government is claiming that people are only coming off the list when the reality is that thousands more have added their names. The need continues to outpace the capacity, and this government is only telling half the story to the people of the province.”

“People expect the Houston government to level with them, publish full updates to the Need a Family Practice Registry and restore public access to past data.”

On Friday, June 13, a Nova Scotia Health release stated that the registry decreased by 51 Nova Scotians from May 1 to June 1, 2025. It did not provide details on how many were added.

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