The Liverpool Plains community recently provided valuable feedback and insights through a community health survey delivered via Liverpool Plains Shire Council’s engagement hub Your Say Liverpool Plains from Monday 18 November until 15 December 2024. A total of 265 people completed the survey.

The purpose of the survey was to help identify local priorities and any barriers to accessing health care in the Liverpool Plains. This included general practices, public health services, allied health services, mental health services, and Aboriginal health services.

The anonymous community survey was open to all residents over the age of 15 and sought to capture a broad range of perspectives from people of all ages and backgrounds. The survey was supported by Rural Doctors Network along with local health providers and community support agencies including Hunter New England Local Health District, Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network, HealthWISE, Walhallow Aboriginal Corporation, Tamworth Aboriginal Medical Service, and Quirindi Care Services. Development and delivery of the survey was supported by Liverpool Plains Shire Council.

This community health survey forms part of the Collaborative Care program, a community-centred program that addresses healthcare needs in rural NSW. The program was developed by Rural Doctors Network and expanded this year to include Liverpool Plains with support from the NSW Ministry of Health.

Key Results

Accessing Health Services Overall

A large proportion of survey participants reported difficulties with accessing health services in the region. The main reasons why they encounter difficulties accessing health services revolve around health workforce shortages and the associated limited appointment availability and long waiting times for appointments as a result. Compounding these challenges, local services are limited and they therefore need to travel substantial distances to access services in neighbouring towns and regional centres.

Over 80% of participants reported that they regularly travel for more than 45 minutes to access necessary health services.

Accessing GP Services

Over 90% of participants accessed a GP in the previous 12 months. More females than males felt that they waited too long for an appointment. Wait times spanned anywhere from 1 week to more than 6 weeks. Most participants (68.2%) reported being able to access their GP in 1-4 weeks.

Accessing a GP outside of routine business hours is a key challenge in the region. A total of 134 participants reported that they tried to access a GP outside of business hours in the previous 12 months. More than half of these (73 participants) were not able to access a doctor.

These participants were not asked directly what they did when they realised that they couldn’t access a doctor after hours, however, it was noted by several participants elsewhere in the survey that residents who could not access a GP often had to resort to presenting to the public hospital emergency department.

Accessing Telehealth Services

Just under half of the participants (48.8%) had accessed services via telehealth in the previous 12 months.

Satisfaction with telehealth was generally high amongst participants, with 63.9% reporting that it met their needs.

Some participants saw opportunities to increase telehealth access and utilisation to help reduce the amount of travel that patients need to do to access services.

Other participants were less enthusiastic about telehealth due to a perception of it being impersonal. Some participants reported challenges related to the quality of care within a telehealth consultation, including that their telehealth doctor could not access all of their relevant medical information, including blood tests, and the patient was therefore concerned that a thorough, informed diagnosis was not made.

LPSC’s Response

“Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey — it’s a first step, but a crucial one, that will help us to better understand and address local healthcare needs,” said Mayor Ken Cudmore.

“We know Dr. Sheeran’s departure has made it harder to see a GP, adding strain to local services. We’re committed to working with the Rural Doctors Network and Primary Health Network to find solutions, support GP recruitment, and improve healthcare access for our community,” he added.

At Council’s February Ordinary Meeting, Council agreed to support the Rural Doctors Network (RDN) to try to recruit a doctor to Quirindi.