Number of NSW people who can't afford a GP visit has tripled since 2020, peak body finds

In June, NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and Finance Minister Courtney Houssos announced a $188.8 million initiative to incentivise GPs to continue bulk billing. Photo: Courtney Houssos MP Facebook.

According to the peak social services body for NSW, the Council of Social Service (NCOSS), the state’s health system is ”broken” and locking out a significant portion of the population from crucial services due to rising costs.

In its latest report, conducted by the University of Canberra, NCOSS found the percentage of people who can’t afford to visit a general practitioner (GP) has more than tripled over the past four years. Most notably, it identified a 246 per cent increase in patients who delayed or didn’t see a doctor due to the cost.

NCOSS chief executive Cara Varian said it found that patient experiences with vital health services, including GPs, specialists and dentists, in NSW had gone backwards since its 2020 report.

“This report illustrates that the health system is broken,” she 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.”

Among the startling findings was an emerging trend of people in regional NSW being more heavily impacted than those in metropolitan areas.

While there has been a 116 per cent increase in patients who delayed or didn’t see a specialist due to costs across NSW, in regional areas the rise was 202 per cent.

Those hardest hit since 2020 included families and younger people (15-24) in regional NSW. Respectively, there was a 546 per cent increase in delayed specialist visits due to costs (NSW +116 per cent), and a 136 per cent increase in delayed dentist visits due to costs (NSW +25 per cent).

Source: NCOSS.

Delayed/avoided visits due to cost increases since 2020.

In comparison with the state overall, with the above three referring to single parents in regional NSW.

Whether it was visiting a doctor or a dentist, Ms Varian said health care needed to be made more accessible for people outside metropolitan areas.

“These stats are a wake-up call for the NSW and Commonwealth governments to make urgent changes to help those people in NSW who are doing it tough,” she said.

“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.”

Along with an online tool mapping patient experiences across NSW, the report also detailed region-specific information – some of which may be useful for Region readers.

For those in the Capital region:

• The percentage of people who can’t afford to visit a GP has increased more than 120 per cent over the past four years.
• One in four people delay/avoid specialist visits due to cost, increasing more than 300 per cent since 2020 (third-highest increase across all NSW regions).
• More than one-third wait longer than acceptable to see a specialist (third-highest proportion across all NSW regions).
• Three in 10 delay/avoid dentist visits due to cost.
• More than one in five (22 per cent) visit emergency departments (EDs) due to their GP being unavailable.
• There is a significantly higher ownership of private health insurance compared with NSW overall (74 per cent v 58 per cent).

For those in the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven:

• The percentage of people who can’t afford to visit a GP has increased more than tenfold over the past four years.
• The number of people who delay/avoid seeing a GP due to cost increased by 1080 per cent since 2020 (highest increase across all NSW regions).
• Four in 10 delay/avoid seeing a dentist due to cost (significantly higher than NSW overall).
• Over one-third delay/avoid seeing a specialist due to cost, increasing more than 170 per cent since 2020 (significantly higher than NSW overall).
• More than one in four visit the ED because their GP was unavailable.

For those in the Illawarra:

• It had some of the poorest patient experience results across all NSW regions, particularly around cost barriers.
• Over one-third (35 per cent) delay/avoid GP visits due to cost, increasing more than 630 per cent since 2020.
• Almost half (47 per cent) delay/avoid dentist visits due to cost.
• Almost half (47 per cent) delay/avoid specialist visits due to cost, increasing almost 250 per cent since 2020.
• More than one in four (28 per cent) feel their GP did not spend enough time with them, increasing more than 230 per cent since 2020.
• One in five (20 per cent) feel their specialist did not spend enough time with them, increasing more than 150 per cent since 2020.
• More than one in five (22 per cent) visit EDs due to their GP being unavailable.

For those in the Riverina:

• More than four in 10 (41 per cent) people delay/avoid seeing a dentist due to cost (significantly higher than NSW overall (21 per cent) and the highest proportion of all NSW regions).
• More than a quarter (26 per cent) wait longer than one month for public dental care (significantly higher than NSW overall (6 per cent) and the highest proportion of all NSW regions).
• The number of people who delay/avoid seeing a GP due to cost increased more than 330 per cent since 2020.
• More than one in three (37 per cent) delay/avoid seeing a specialist due to cost, increasing more than 180 per cent since 2020.
• Almost one-third (32 per cent) visit the ED because their GP wasn’t available (significantly higher than NSW overall (23 per cent)).
• There was significantly lower ownership of private health insurance compared with NSW overall (43 per cent v 58 per cent).