A new report on the state of the province's emergency departments paints a dire picture of unexpected closures, long ambulance offload wait times, lengthy waits for care and patients leaving without being seen.

The Annual Accountability Report on Emergency Departments released by the province has revealed what health-care workers in Nova Scotia already know: emergency departments are being pushed to the limit. The report takes a deeper dive into some of the problems the health sector has faced over the past few years.

Calling it “a really long time coming,” Doctors Nova Scotia president and family physician Dr. Leisha Hawker says there has definitely been a rise in wait times when it comes to getting her patients in to see a specialist. In fact, she says data from 1993 shows it only took two months, a vastly different reality than what’s being seen today.

The association representing Nova Scotia's doctors says physicians are seeing an increase in the number of requests they're getting for sick notes, despite a request from the province's chief medical officer of health to employers to stop using them. Dr. Robert Strang made the plea at his last briefing in mid-November, saying employers are putting "unnecessary pressure" on the health-care system.

Family doctors and nurse practitioners will be providing virtual care to Nova Scotians on the Need a Family Practice Registry on a trial basis this Sunday as demand outpaces supply. The move expands a service that has, until now, only been offered between Monday and Friday. “At times, the wait to see a provider online may take up to three hours,” a Nova Scotia Health news release said.

A new study from Dalhousie University shows that family doctors who entered the profession recently are not taking on fewer patients or having less contact with patients than those who started out two decades ago. The analysis counters a misconception that recently trained physicians think more about work-life balance than their more established colleagues, are less career-motivated or are less likely to provide comprehensive and continuous care, the study says.