The Nova Scotia General Employees Union is calling for a delay to the province's One Person One Record electronic medical record system [1, 2].
The request comes as the province attempts to modernize its healthcare infrastructure. If the system is implemented without adequate safeguards, the union warns that patient safety could be compromised and frontline workers may lack the necessary support to navigate the transition [1, 2].
In a report released on Thursday, the union detailed concerns regarding the current state of the rollout [2]. The NSGEU said the transition to a digital system requires more comprehensive support for the staff who must manage the new records while maintaining patient care [1, 2].
Digital transformation in the province has already involved significant logistics. Previous reports indicate that 900 boxes of paper health records were trucked to Ontario to be digitized [3]. This scale of data migration highlights the complexity of moving toward a single, unified electronic record for all residents.
The union said the current pace of the launch does not allow for the necessary training or troubleshooting required to prevent medical errors [1, 2]. The NSGEU is urging provincial health authorities to pause the launch until these safety and support gaps are addressed [2].
Nova Scotia health officials have not yet responded to the union's request for a delay. The One Person One Record initiative aims to replace fragmented paper and digital systems with a single longitudinal record for every patient in the province [1, 2].
“The NSGEU warns that the One Person One Record system poses risks to patient safety.”
This dispute highlights the tension between the administrative drive for digital efficiency and the operational realities of frontline healthcare. While a unified record system reduces data fragmentation, the transition period creates a high-risk window where technical failures or user error can lead to clinical mistakes. The union's push for a delay suggests that the human infrastructure—training and staffing—has not kept pace with the software deployment.
