Close to a million people attending hospital emergency departments each year agree they could have been treated elsewhere, a new report suggests.
The survey of NSW emergency department visitors found two-in-seven thought their condition “definitely” or “to some extent” could have been treated by a GP or other health professional.
However, most also said their preferred GP or health service was closed or had no suitable appointments at the time.
The NSW Bureau of Health Information survey was released on Wednesday alongside data showing doctors and nurses remained under pressure in the September quarter.
The number of emergency department patients waiting longer than recommended rose to a record high of 38.7 per cent, the bureau found.
Medical unions used the data to demand better funding and staffing, with one highlighting a disconnect between what doctors wanted to do for their patients, and what limited resources and staffing allowed them to do.
“If you’re trying to advertise world-class healthcare, you need to resource it properly,” emergency physician and NSW president of the salaried medical officers union Nicholas Spooner told AAP.
“At the moment, patients are getting bog-standard and – some would argue – at times unsafe care.”
The NSW branch of the Australian Medical Association called for more investment in hospitals and general practice to fix an “exhausted” system.
“The health workforce cannot continue to do more with less,” branch president Kathryn Austin said.
“Patients deserve better and so do our hardworking health staff.”
About 3.2 million people have attended the state’s hospital emergency departments in the past year.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said a nurse-on-call service was increasingly diverting non-urgent matters from emergency departments, rising to 102,000 in the past quarter.
But a GP shortage and the former federal coalition government’s freeze on Medicare rebates continue to bite.
“The commonwealth’s GP shortage crisis is placing severe pressure on our hospitals as people have little choice but to present to our EDs for non-emergency conditions,” Mr Park said.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler, however, defended the system in light of a record number of GPs in training, while noting thousands of people in NSW have attended fully-bulk-billed urgent care clinics.
“On any measure, general practice today is in a vastly better place than it was two years ago,” he said in a statement to AAP.
“We are seeing a rush of new doctors joining the health system, with more doctors joining in the last two years than at any time in the past decade.”
Despite the problems plaguing emergency care, most patients in the past year remained pleased with their care.
About 62 per cent believed they received very good care, with another 26 per cent saying it was good, the bureau report said.