December / January focus - People with disability

In the recent CHN Health Needs Assessment, several factors were identified that negatively impacted the ability of people with disabilities to access health care.

These factors included wait times, cost, physical accessibility, discrimination, and poor or lack of communication with other members of the person's care team or with the person themselves.

Thank you to all who completed the People with disability survey on MySay.

The responses we received indicated that while some services accessed by the respondents met their needs well, there is still plenty of space for improvement. Here are some of the major take-aways from the responses given;

• 1 in 4 respondents noted physical accessibility to a primary care practice as a barrier to attendance (i.e. lack of ramps, distance from parking spaces) within the last 12 months.
• The majority of respondents indicated that they experienced a lack of clear, accessible communication, and poor or no followup communication during and after receiving care from a primary care practitioner within the last 12 months.
• Half of respondents felt culturally unsafe or discriminated against when interacting with primary care services within the last 12 months.
• Half of respondents indicated that they received quality, accessible and sensitive care in the last 12 months either via their GP or through the walkin centres.

We also asked for any further relevant information or feedback from our respondents. To maintain their anonymity, we’ve pulled some of the select phrases from their answers to exclude any specific details.

“I attended (a health service), whose reception displayed jargon, and whose nurse spoke jargon. Which confused me, as a new patient.”

“Most of our experiences with primary care have been positive.”

“Many times, promises made about follow up contact are not kept.”

“I particularly admired the excellent customer service at my GP's practice!”

“People who live with mental health conditions routinely have their human rights ignored or abused in the health system.”