N.S. need-a-doctor registry doesn’t prioritize sickest people: auditor general
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia Health Authority needs to find a way to ensure people with serious health concerns who’ve registered on a provincial website are actually connected with a doctor, the province’s auditor general says.
In a report Wednesday, Michael Pickup says the provincial web site where people can register to indicate they need a family doctor is of limited usefulness because there is no priority based on health history or the person’s condition.
As of Sept. 1, there were almost 36,000 people registered online with the health authority’s “Need a Family Practice” registry, about four per cent of the province’s population.
The health authority encourages doctors to use the list to obtain new patients, but as Pickup noted during a news conference, they aren’t required to choose new patients from the list.