Poor access to GP’s has been blamed for a rise in ‘avoidable hospital visits’ in the last financial year, although a local GP and director of Tamworth Hospital emergency say they are mostly unavoidable.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The figures were released on Wednesday in the latest Productivity Report, although both newly retired GP Steve Howle and emergency director Nick Ryan question the definition of avoidable.
“It is a huge generalisation because it is the patient’s perception of the problem,” Dr Howle said.
“A condition, like chest pain, can only be judged to be avoidable after someone with clinical expertise has seen them.
“It can also be difficult to access a GP immediately or after hours services, although people can get a free and much more complex and coordinated service at the hospital.”
Read more:
Dr Ryan agrees, and said that the avoidable visits, those classed as Triage 4 and 5 cases, are not having a negative impact on the local system.
“I would estimate that 10 per cent of the 130 people we see a day could have waited to see a GP, but in 20 years that figure has not really changed,” Dr Ryan said.
“We admit 15 per cent of Triage 4 patients anyway, so they need to be here.
“In many smaller rural centres the local GP is the same doctor that patients will see in emergency anyway, so it is difficult to compare city statistics to rural and remote areas.”
Both doctors do agree that if more money was spent on either making GP visits cheaper and more accessible, as well as further funding community resources such as specialist nurses the avoidable visits may be reduced.
“People should definitely come straight to hospital for chest pain, stroke symptoms or severe pain where analgesics are not working,” Dr Ryan said.
“However they should not come for chronic conditions such as diabetes, or long standing heart or airways conditions – they need to be treated by GP’s and specialists.
“We have to provide resources in the community that people are going to respond to and use – there are a few specialty nurses around although I would like to see those programs be expanded.”
