The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released its Patient Experiences In Australia: Summary of Findings report, showing that at least 80% of people felt their health professional always or often spent enough time with them, listened carefully to them and had shown them respect.

 

When asked if they felt that their health professional had spent enough time with them:

  • 95% felt that dental professionals had always or often done so;
  • 88% felt that GPs had always or often done so, and
  • 80% felt that emergency department doctors and specialists had always or often done so.

 

However, over a quarter of Australians found cost a barrier in seeing a dental professional (26%), while 12% delayed seeing or did not see a specialist and 8% delayed seeing or did not see a GP in the last 12 months due to the cost.

Four out of five people had seen a general practitioner (GP) in the last 12 months, with 18% of them for urgent medical care. A third of people had seen a medical specialist and half had seen a dental professional in this time.

Just over 15% of Australians who had seen a GP felt that they had waited longer than acceptable to get an appointment.

For the three out of every five people needing to see a GP for urgent care, over half had seen one within 4 hours. Just under one in ten people, however, did not see a GP until two or more days after making an appointment for care they considered to be urgent.

 

Further details can be found in 4839.0 Patient Experiences in Australia: Summary of Findings.