4839.0.55.001 - Health Services: Patient Experiences in Australia, 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 20/10/2011   
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AFTER HOURS VISITS TO A GP

Around a million people aged 15 years and over had seen a GP after hours in the 12 months prior to the survey (8% of people who had seen a GP). Slightly more women than men had seen a GP after hours (9% compared with 6%), but the general pattern of after hours visits for both sexes was that they declined with age (see Table 3.2).

More people living in major cities had seen a GP after hours than people living in regional and remote Australia (9% compared with 5% and 6%).

The rate of people who felt their health was fair or poor seeing a GP after hours was almost double that of people who thought their health was generally good, very good or excellent (10% compared with 7%).

South Australia had the highest rate of seeing a GP after hours (11%) and Tasmania had the lowest (6%). South Australians also had the highest rates of seeing a GP after hours for their children's health (see Chapter 7).

Around 1 in 3 people who reported seeing a GP after hours had seen them at a regular general practice (36%) and 24% had been to an after hours clinic at a hospital. Figure 3.3 shows that people from regional and remote areas of Australia who had seen a GP after hours were much more likely to do this at a hospital clinic than people in major cities (around 46% compared with 19%).

3.3 Type of after hours GP clinic visited (a) by Remoteness

(See Table 3.1 for more detail)







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