Research from an ongoing DHCRC project has found that GPs in-person visits to Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACFs) in Victorian Primary Health Networks dropped in 2020 compared to 2019. This occurred most often in May (-24%), July (-20%), and during Victoria’s second lockdown in August (-37%).
By contrast, GP visits to NSW RACFs increased in 2020 compared to 2019. Researchers suggest the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria and the state’s more severe lockdowns compared to NSW are likely reasons.
The COVID-19 pandemic also saw telehealth play an important role in delivering GP services in RACFs, with a much higher uptake of telehealth (up to 30%) among the Victorian general practices.
These results are from a major project exploring GP telehealth in NSW and Victoria between January and September 2020, using data from around 800 general practices across the two states in both urban and rural/remote regions.
This project is a collaboration between Outcome Health, the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs, Gippsland, Eastern Melbourne and South Eastern Melbourne PHNs, and Macquarie University.
This is the fourth ‘GP snapshot’ report from the project and explored the impact of the pandemic on GP visits to residential aged care facilities and telehealth use. Other research findings include:
children and adolescents used face-to-face consults more often than other age groups;
women used GP telehealth visits more than men; and telehealth was used less by people in lower socioeconomic groups.
The study covers nearly 30 per cent of the Australian population, including urban and rural/remote regions from approximately 800 general practices (454 from Victoria and 346 from NSW).
The participating Primary Health Networks (PHNs) included two urban (Eastern Melbourne and South Eastern Melbourne) and a predominantly rural (Gippsland) PHN from Victoria, and in NSW, Central and Eastern Sydney (urban) and South Western Sydney (incorporating rural areas Wingello to Bundanoon) PHNs.
Read the full report here
