Nova Scotians can now see updated healthcare data on the Action for Health website.

The latest updates reflect the second quarter of 2022-23, from July 1 to September 30.

“This data shows progress in some key areas that are important to Nova Scotians, but it also shows we still have work to do,” said Brian Comer, Minister responsible for the Office of Addictions and Mental Health, on behalf of Health and Wellness Minister Michelle Thompson. “We will continue to share information so Nova Scotians can see for themselves the work that is happening to improve our health system so it is ready when they need it, responsive to their needs and provides reliable care they can count on.”

The latest data shows targets for the home-care wait list and admissions to long-term care were met. Growth of the surgical wait list slowed and is slightly better than the target.

New measures showing net increases in family physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and the number of registered continuing care assistants have been added. These will be reported annually.

Action for Health, launched in April, is the government’s strategic four-year plan to improve healthcare in Nova Scotia. There is work underway and progress on all six of the plan’s broad solutions, and their individual action items have been updated. Other highlights from the second quarter include:

• 200 new nursing seats announced for post-secondary institutions across the province
• a new initiative with Dalhousie family medicine clinics and Nova Scotia Health to connect hundreds of people to primary care providers and help new doctors establish practices
• Emergency Health Services has hired 108 of the 180 new non-paramedic drivers to handle routine patient transfers, allowing paramedics to focus on emergency calls; between September 2021 and September 2022, paramedics did 22 per cent of the non-urgent patient transfers, from 86 per cent
• VirtualCareNS expanded to all Nova Scotians on the Need a Family Practice Registry
• work underway on more than a dozen actions to reduce unnecessary administrative burden for doctors to give them more time to do what they do best – take care of patients

The Action for Health website will be updated quarterly at: https://novascotia.ca/actionforhealth/ .

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