4839.0 - Patient Experiences in Australia: Summary of Findings, 2013-14 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/11/2014   
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MEDICAL SPECIALISTS


Medical specialists play a crucial role in the management and treatment of health conditions where they have specialist knowledge and skills. This chapter presents data on people who saw a medical specialist in the previous 12 months. Respondents were asked about the services they had used, waiting times, barriers to accessing care as well as their experience with the health care professionals.

Nationally, one in three (36.2%) people aged 15 years and over saw a medical specialist in the previous 12 months. Overall, females were more likely than males to see a medical specialist (39.1% compared with 33.2%). However, for those aged 65 and over, males were more likely than females to see a medical specialist (58.9% compared with 54.8%). The proportion of people who saw a medical specialist generally increased with age. Around one in five people (23.1%) aged 15–24 years saw a medical specialist in the previous 12 months, compared with one in two aged 75 years and over (58.9%). (Tables 2.1 and 2.2)

Graph Image for Proportion of persons 15 years and over, Visited a medical specialist in the previous 12 months

Source(s): Patient Experience Survey: Summary of Findings



People living in areas of least socio-economic disadvantage were more likely to see a medical specialist than those living in the areas of most socio-economic disadvantage (39.0% compared with 35.9%). Similarly, people living in major cities were more likely to see a medical specialist than those living in outer regional, remote or very remote areas of Australia (36.5% compared with 32.3%). (Table 3.2)

Visits to medical specialists were also related to health characteristics, with those having a long term health condition more than twice as likely to see a medical specialist than those without a long term health condition (52.6% compared with 20.9%). Similarly, those who rated their health as fair or poor were nearly twice as likely to see a medical specialist than those who rated their health as excellent, very good, or good (61.4% compared with 32.4%). (Table 3.2)

BARRIERS

One of the benefits of a household based survey is that data can be collected from those who did not access health services as well as from those that did. It is therefore possible to obtain information from people who may have needed to access a health service, but did not access this service, and the reasons they did not access the health service.

In 2013–14, one in twelve people who needed to see a medical specialist delayed or did not go because of the cost (7.9%). Females were more likely than males to delay seeing or not see a medical specialist due to cost (9.3% compared with 6.1%). People aged 25–34 were the most likely to delay seeing or not see a medical specialist due to cost, with the proportion increasing to one in seven in this category (14.1%). (Table 9.2)

Those with a long term health condition were more likely to delay seeing or not see a medical specialist due to cost than those without a long term health condition (8.6% compared with 6.1%). (Table 10.2)

People living in outer regional, remote or very remote areas of Australia were more likely to delay seeing or not see a medical specialist due to cost compared with those living in major cities (8.9% compared with 7.5%). Similarly, people living in the areas of most socio-economic disadvantage were more likely to delay seeing or not see a medical specialist due to cost compared with those living in areas of least socio-economic disadvantage (9.6% compared with 6.8%). (Table 10.2)

WAITING TIMES

Difficulties in obtaining appointments for medical specialists can be both frustrating and sometimes even have a detrimental effect on a person's overall health. Of those who saw a medical specialist in the previous 12 months, one in four people (25.0%) waited longer than they felt acceptable to get an appointment with a medical specialist. Females were more likely than males to report waiting longer than acceptable (26.4% compared with 23.2%). (Table 9.2)

Those with a long term health condition were more likely to wait longer than felt acceptable to get an appointment with a medical specialist than those without a long term health condition (26.2% compared with 21.9%). (Table 10.2)

EXPERIENCE WITH MEDICAL SPECIALISTS

The way that a patient is treated by a health professional is an important aspect of their satisfaction with their care. All respondents who had seen a medical specialist were asked for their perceptions on how they were treated by the medical specialist they had seen.

Of those who had seen a medical specialist in the previous 12 months, 76.6% reported that the medical specialist always listened carefully to them, 79.6% reported that they always showed them respect and 76.6% reported that they always spent enough time with them. Similar patterns were reported by male and female patients. (Table 10.2)