Why do people visit Emergency Departments instead of General Practitioners?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Patient Experience Survey provides some insight into reasons why people visit Emergency Departments (EDs). The survey found that of the 3.2 million respondents aged 15 and over in 2022–23 who visited an ED for any reason, about 16% (an estimated 492,000 people) thought their care could have been provided by a General Practitioner (GP) for their most recent visit to the ED. This proportion has remained largely unchanged since 2018–19 (17%) (Figure 3) (ABS 2023).

Figure 3: Proportion (%) of people aged 15 years and over who visited an ED, who thought their care could have been provided by a GP for their most recent visit to the ED, 2018–19 to 2022–23

Since 2018–19, about 17% of people aged 15 and over who visited an ED thought their care could have been provided by a GP for their most recent visit.


Source: ABS (2023).

In 2022–23, of people aged 15 years and over who visited an ED (3.2 million):

  • nearly 1 in 2 (47%) people reported that the main reason they went to an ED instead of a GP was because they were taken by ambulance or the condition was serious
  • 1 in 5 (22%) reported that the main reason was because a GP was not available when required or that the waiting time for a GP appointment was too long
  • fewer than 1% indicated the main reason was because the ED was lower in cost than visiting a GP (Figure 4) (ABS 2023).


Figure 4: Main reason people aged 15 years and over went to the ED instead of a GP on the most recent occasion, 2022–23

In 2022–23, almost half of people aged 15 and over who visited an ED reported they went to an ED instead of a GP because they were taken by ambulance or the condition was serious.


Source: ABS (2023).

References

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2023. Patient Experiences, ABS website, accessed 21 November 2023.

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