The percentage of people who can't afford to visit a GP has more than tripled in New South Wales over the past four years, according to damning new research.
The report titled Access Denied: Australians Locked Out of Quality Healthcare, was commissioned by peak social services body NCOSS and conducted by the University of Canberra.
NCOSS chief executive Cara Varian said the report found that patient experiences with vital health services including GPs, specialists and dentists in NSW had gone backwards since its 2020 report and that regional areas were more heavily impacted than metropolitan areas.
"This report illustrates that the health system is broken," Ms Varian said.
"When people can't afford the most fundamental medical care it leads to bad health outcomes and puts pressure on hospitals.
"The NSW and Commonwealth governments must take urgent action to address these matters."
The key statistics include:
- A 246 per cent surge in patients who delayed or didn't see a doctor due to cost.
- A 116 per cent increase in patients who delayed or did not see a specialist due to cost across NSW. In regional areas, there was a 202 per cent increase.
- A 47 per cent increase in patients who felt GPs did not spend enough time with them. In regional areas there was a 63 per cent increase.
- A 25 per cent increase in the number of NSW patients delaying or not seeing a dentist due to cost.
"New trends have emerged in this report, with people in regional NSW finding it the toughest to access the medical attention they need," Ms Varian said.
"Financial pressures have put healthcare out of reach for too many people.
"Whether it's visiting your doctor or your dentist, we need to make healthcare more accessible for people outside of metropolitan areas.
"These stats are a wake-up call for the NSW and Commonwealth Governments to make urgent changes to help those people in New South Wales who are doing it tough.
"We need to see a dramatic improvement of affordability and reduction of out-of-pocket costs for people living in regional and rural NSW and for those living on low incomes."
NCOSS's research concludes that NSW and Commonwealth Governments should take the following steps:
- Improve affordability and reduce out-of-pocket costs, particularly for vulnerable populations
- Enhance healthcare access and availability in regional areas
- Provide targeted support to groups experiencing the most significant declines in healthcare experiences
- Address the growing pressure on health services, including wait times and time spent with patients
The report draws on the 2023 patient experience survey (PES) component of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) and original data estimations produced by the University of Canberra for NCOSS.
NCOSS has developed an Online Mapping Tool which provides a geographic breakdown of the report data by SA2 level.
To use the Online Mapping Tool and to read the report go to ncoss.org.au
