The Bureau of Health Information released a report Wednesday providing insights into the experiences of care of thousands of Aboriginal people who were admitted to a New South Wales public hospital.
'The Insights Series – Aboriginal people's experiences of hospital care: 2019 to 2024' is based on feedback from more than 12,000 Aboriginal people who provided feedback in the Adult Admitted Patient Survey.
In 2024, most Aboriginal people who responded to the survey provided positive ratings of care – more than eight in 10 (86 per cent) said their overall care was 'very good' (60 per cent) or 'good' (26 per cent). However, Aboriginal patients reported significantly less positive experiences than non-Aboriginal patients for most survey questions, and were seven percentage points less likely than non-Aboriginal patients to rate their overall care as 'very good'.
The report shows which aspects of care had the strongest influence on whether Aboriginal patients gave positive ratings of their overall care. Patients were eight times more likely to rate their care, overall, as 'very good' if they said their care was 'very well organised' and four times more likely if they said health professionals were 'always' kind and caring.
Support from Aboriginal health workers also has a material impact on Aboriginal patients' overall experiences in hospital. Among Aboriginal patients who received support, or the offer of support, from an Aboriginal health worker: 77 per cent said the care and treatment received 'definitely' helped them (compared with 62 per cent of patients who did not receive that support); and 71 per cent said they were 'definitely' given enough information about how to manage their care at home (compared with 56 per cent).
BHI Acting Chief Executive Hilary Rowell said the findings provide "insight for hospitals on the critical factors shaping Aboriginal patients' perceptions of their hospital experience".
In other findings, the report shows that Aboriginal patients admitted to rural hospitals tended to provide more positive ratings than patients admitted to urban hospitals, and for most survey questions, Aboriginal patients' ratings of care declined or were stable between 2019 and 2024.
There were some key areas where Aboriginal people's experiences improved over time. In 2024: Aboriginal patients were less likely to say that, in the past 12 months, there was a time when they needed to go to hospital but didn't (28 per cent) – an improvement from 36 per cent in 2022, and Aboriginal patients were less likely to say they felt unfairly treated during their hospital stay because they were an Aboriginal person (six per cent) – an improvement from 10 per cent in 2022.
