Prioritizing Primary Care -QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER: Yesterday, media reported the troubling story of Cathy Croskery, a 58-year-old woman who was not told about her breast cancer diagnosis. She's one of the 95,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. For Cathy, that meant a complicated process for screening, and an unacceptable delay in getting results.

While this government moves to consolidate power, Nova Scotians are falling through the cracks in our health care system. Why is this government more interested in its surprise agenda than in helping Nova Scotians get primary care and care by a family doctor?

HON. MICHELLE THOMPSON » : The circumstances regarding individuals who are seeking care are very important for us to follow up. We do realize that there has been an issue in terms of the process. I can't speak about individuals, of course, on the floor. We are working very hard and bringing in new physicians. There are over 200 net new physicians in this province as a result of some of the things we've done to change.

We are looking at access points so that individuals who don't have a family practice can still get the screening that they require through self-referral, through mobile units, through VirtualCareNS. What's essential is that we make sure that there are multiple ways for people to access care. We'll continue to look at ways for people to get the care they need, and we'll continue to recruit the professionals we need.

CLAUDIA CHENDER: The apps, the mobile clinics, the access points - they get you to a certain point, but this case shows that they don't get you all of the way there. We've heard both the Minister of Health and Wellness and the Premier, in the last couple of years, opine that maybe not everyone needs a family doctor. This is a case that shows us that that is absolutely not true. Everyone needs to be attached to primary care.

My question again for the Minister of Health and Wellness is: When will we make sure that everyone is attached to those primary care clinics? Because without them, people will continue to fall through the cracks.

MICHELLE THOMPSON « » : What I want to reassure Nova Scotians is that, as they've seen, the Need a Family Practice registry has come down for at least the past four months in a row, as a result of all of the investments that we've made.

This is not just a Nova Scotia issue. We recognize that there is a global shortage of primary care providers. We have pulled out every stop in order to address this issue in Nova Scotia. We have the PACE clinic. We have a new Cape Breton University medical school that will be started in the fall. We have a number of internationally educated residents who are now coming to Nova Scotia to train.

We understand that there is a shortage. This should have been addressed a number of years ago, but in the last four years we have made significant investment and significant progress. I want to reassure Nova Scotians it will continue.