THE percentage of people who can’t afford to visit a GP in the Mid North Coast region has increased 270 percent over the past four years, according to new research.

The report titled “Access Denied: Australians Locked Out of Quality Healthcare”, was commissioned by the NSW Council of Social Services (NCOSS) and conducted by the University of Canberra.

NCOSS chief executive Cara Varian said the report found that patient experiences with vital health services including GPs, specialists and dentists in NSW had gone backwards since its 2020 report and that regional areas were more heavily impacted than metropolitan areas.

“This report illustrates that the health system is broken,” Ms Varian said.

“When people can’t afford the most fundamental medical care it leads to bad health outcomes and puts pressure on hospitals,” she said.

“These statistics are particularly alarming in regional areas and are a wake-up call for the NSW and Commonwealth Governments to improve affordability and out-of-pocket costs for all Australians.”

According to the report, more than one in three people on the Mid North Coast visit the ED due to their GP being unavailable.

This is significantly higher than NSW overall (23 percent) and the second highest proportion across all NSW regions.

Over a quarter of Mid North Coast residents delay or avoid seeing the dentist due to cost, and over six in ten have a long-term health condition, compared to 51 percent in NSW overall.

There is also significantly lower ownership of private health insurance on the Mid North Coast (42 percent) compared to NSW overall (58 percent).