Patients put access to doctors ahead of buld billing, Australia

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 13 Jul 2004 - 0:00 PDT


An AMA (Australian Medical Association) poll shows that people are overwhelmingly more concerned about being able to get to see a doctor when they need one rather than whether the doctor bulk bills.

AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that the poll result - 72 per cent concerned about access to a doctor compared to just 21 per cent who see bulk billing as more important - confirms the long-held AMA view that access to quality medical care is more important to patients than bulk billing.

The poll also showed that 69 per cent of respondents consider health to be either the most important (20 per cent), or one of the top three issues (49 per cent), facing voters at the coming Federal election.

In regard to spending any Budget surplus, 47 per cent say it should be spent on health services, 31 per cent say it should be spent on other service areas, while just 14 per cent want it spent on tax cuts.

In another interesting result, respondents said the loss of a GP (79 per cent) would have a significant impact on their communities. This compared to the significant impact from the loss of a lawyer (18 per cent), a teacher (64 per cent), a pharmacist (57 per cent), a church (31 per cent), or a bank (57 per cent).

Dr Glasson said the poll confirms community and patient concerns about doctor shortages and reflects the AMA view that bulk billing is not a measure of the success or failure of the health system.

"People are finding it harder and harder to get to see a doctor when they want one," Dr Glasson said.

"And when they find one they are prepared to pay a gap because they know the Medicare rebate is not enough to keep their doctor in their town or suburb. The poll shows that people are very knowledgeable about health policy, the health system, and doctor shortages - and they are not happy.

"Australian communities want to keep their doctors, but this poll shows clearly that current Government policies are not doing enough to provide all Australians with easily accessed and affordable high quality GP services," Dr Glasson said.

The poll of 1001 people was conducted for the AMA by international market information company, TNS, over the weekend of 3-4 July 2004. The respondents were evenly split between male (500) and female (501), and proportionally representative of capital city (691) and rest of state (310) populations.

TNS POLL ANALYSIS

TNS is a leading global provider of market information. They collect, analyse, and interpret information to help their clients better understand the needs and wants of their customers.

From their global network, which spans 70 countries, they provide local expertise and knowledge, together with internationally consistent information and analysis.

For this AMA poll, TNS interviewed 1001 respondents, evenly split between male (500) and female (501) and proportionally representative of capital city (691) and rest of state (310) populations.

Breakdowns are also available based on the respondents State, socio-economic status, age and marital status. Continues.....Australian Medical Association

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