Illawarra residents are putting off visiting their GP due to costs. Photo: dolgachov.
The number of Illawarra residents delaying visits to GPs and dentists because they can’t afford it has skyrocketed, according to a new report into healthcare disadvantage.
The report, Access Denied: Australians Locked Out of Quality Healthcare, claims the percentage of residents who can’t afford to visit a GP has increased more than 600 per cent over the past four years.
It was by far the biggest increase in NSW: Regional NSW recorded a 252 per cent rise and Greater Sydney 237.1 per cent.
The report was commissioned by peak social services body NCOSS and conducted by the University of Canberra.
It found the Illawarra had some of the poorest patient experience results across all NSW regions, particularly around cost barriers.
Those most impacted by rising GP costs in the Illawarra include low-income residents (47 per cent) and single parents (45 per cent).
People in the region are also more likely to avoid or delay visiting a specialist due to costs (47.1 per cent compared to the NSW overall figure of 17 per cent) and almost half delayed or avoided dentist visits due to cost.
NCOSS CEO 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,” she said.
“These statistics are particularly alarming in regional areas and are a wake-up call for the NSW and Commonwealth governments to improve affordability and out-of-pocket costs for all Australians.”
About 28 per cent of Illawarra patients did not feel their GP spent enough time with them, an increase of 230 per cent since 2020. One in five turned to an emergency department for treatment due to their GP being unavailable.
“This report shows that people in regional NSW are copping the brunt of a stretched health system and that financial pressures have put healthcare out of reach for too many people,” Ms Varian said.
“Whether it’s visiting your doctor or your dentist, we need to make healthcare more accessible for people outside of metropolitan areas.”
NCOSS has called on the NSW and Federal governments to improve affordability and reduce out-of-pocket costs, particularly for vulnerable populations; enhance healthcare access and availability in regional areas and provide targeted support to groups experiencing the most significant declines in healthcare experiences.
The organisation also wants governments to address the growing pressure on health services, including wait times and time spent with patients.
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