The Nova Scotia Liberal party is raising concerns after obtaining a survey completed by doctors leaving the province.

The exit surveys completed by 73 physicians between May 2021 and December 2023 found that nearly half were dissatisfied with their positions and cited their work environment as a primary reason for their departure.

“Despite spending billions of dollars on healthcare, outcomes have clearly not improved for doctors and patients,” said Opposition Leader Zach Churchill. “There is already nearly 160,000 Nova Scotians without a family doctor. If the premier is going to double the population, we need to address the work environment issues doctors are dealing with.”

Sixty per cent of doctors who left the province in the past three years did so for other employment opportunities.

The survey also revealed a trend with new hires, with one in four respondents having only worked for NSH for a short period – between one and five years.

“We need to ensure we’re retaining the doctors we have, especially those who are new to the province or new to the practice,” said Health and Wellness critic Kelly Regan. “We’ve heard countless stories from doctors who have immigrated to Nova Scotia but feel they’ve been set up to fail. Losing physicians in preventable situations is unacceptable.”