4839.0.55.002 - Patient Experiences in Australia: States and Territories, 2013-14 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 27/05/2015  First Issue
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SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Almost 1.7 million (1,686,000) people live in South Australia (SA), or fewer than one tenth (7.2%) of the total Australian population, with 77.4% living in Greater Adelaide.1

KEY FACTS – PEOPLE 15 YEARS AND OVER

  • In 2013-14, 84.6% of people in South Australia saw a general practitioner (GP) in the previous 12 months, with almost three quarters of people (73.2%) receiving a prescription for medication.
  • Over one in ten (10.2%) people in SA saw a GP for urgent medical care in the previous 12 months.
  • In SA 10.1% of people saw an after hours GP in the previous 12 months. While just over one in ten (12.2%) SA residents needed to see an after hours GP, 17.3% of these people did not see one at all when needed.
  • In SA 37.3% of people saw a medical specialist in the previous 12 months. While 39.7% needed to see a medical specialist, 6.2% did not see one at all when needed.
  • Of those who saw a medical specialist in SA, 18.8% reported they waited longer than they felt acceptable to get an appointment.
  • In SA, almost half (49.7%) saw a dental professional in the previous 12 months. While 58.5% of SA residents needed to see a dental professional, 14.9% of these people did not see one at all when needed.
  • More than one in seven (14.5%) people living in SA visited a hospital emergency department and just under a fifth of these people (19.7%) felt that their care could have been provided by a GP.
  • In 2013-14, 16.1% of South Australians saw three or more health professionals for the same condition, with 10.4% of these people reporting they experienced issues caused by a lack of communication between health professionals.

COMPARISON WITH NATIONAL RESULTS
  • South Australians were more likely to have seen a GP compared with all Australians (84.6% compared with 82.2%).
  • People in SA were also more likely (73.2%) to receive a prescription for medication than all Australians (68.9%).
  • South Australian residents were less likely to delay seeing a medical specialist when needed; 16.1% of South Australians delayed seeing a medical specialist at least once in the previous 12 months compared with 20.3% of all Australians. Of the people who saw a medical specialist, people in SA (18.8%) were less likely to wait longer than they felt acceptable to get an appointment with a medical specialist compared with all Australians (25.0%).
  • People in SA were less likely to delay seeing a dental professional at least once in the previous 12 months when needed compared with all Australians (28.7% compared with 33.3%).
  • Of the people who saw three or more health professionals for the same condition, South Australians were less likely to experience issues caused by a lack of communication between the health professionals compared with all Australians (10.4% compared with 14.3%)
  • Residents of South Australia were more likely to be admitted to hospital compared with all Australians (14.6% and 12.8%).

REFERENCE

1. Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2013-14, June 2014 (cat. no. 3218.0)