Paper identifies need to improve health access

A new health insights paper from Gippsland Primary Health Network (GPHN) has highlighted the scale and cost of potentially preventable hospitalisations in Gippsland and opportunities to improve health outcomes and reduce pressure on hospitals by strengthening access to primary care.
"Primary care: Keeping people out of hospital" revealed that in 2023–24, there were 12,895 potentially preventable hospitalisations among Gippsland residents,
representing 7.4 per cent of all hospitalisations compared with 6.2 per cent nationally.
"Nearly 12,900 potentially preventable hospitalisations occurred among Gippsland residents in just one year, at an estimated annual cost of $127 million. These figures
reinforce why timely and accessible primary care is so important for our communities and our broader health system," Gippsland PHN chief executive officer Amanda Proposch said.
"We are seeing the important role of alternatives to emergency departments. Around 60 per cent of patients attending Gippsland's urgent care clinics reported they would otherwise have gone to an emergency department, demonstrating the value of giving people more options to access the right care in the right place at the right time," she said.
The report reinforced that timely, accessible primary care played a critical role in preventing illness, managing chronic conditions and helping to keep people out of emergency
departments and hospital beds.
Key insights:
- Gippsland's potentially preventable hospitalisation rate was 3343 per 100,000 people, compared with the national rate of 2617
- Chronic potentially preventable hospitalisations increased by 34 per cent between 2017–18 and 2023–24 (due to increasing rates of chronic disease)
- There were 43,462 lower-urgency emergency department presentations for Gippsland residents in 2024–25, representing 33 per cent of all emergency department presentations
- Lower-urgency emergency department presentations decreased by 13 per cent between 2019–20 and 2024–25, but Baw Baw's rate remained higher at 57 presentations per 1000 population compared to the rest of Australia at an average of 50 per 1000 population in 2023–24.
- Since opening in 2023, Gippsland's two Urgent Care Clinics have averaged about 27,000 total presentations per year to May 2026.
- About 60 per cent of urgent care clinic patients reported they would otherwise have gone to an emergency department
The report also identified barriers to accessing primary care in Gippsland, including cost, long wait times, transport, limited or unaffordable local referral options, poor communication and a lack of information about existing services.
Opportunities to help keep people out of hospital include, expanded after-hours GP services, better coordination between primary and acute care, integrated, multidisciplinary care models, care coordination for people with complex needs and increased use of digital and virtual health solutions.
The paper acknowledged not all lower-urgency emergency department visits and potentially preventable hospitalisations could be managed in primary care. Understanding
local services and community needs can support better decision-making, service planning and care coordination.