National Health Performance Authority, Healthy Communities: Satisfaction with waiting times for medical specialist, 2011–12

Participants in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Patient Experience Survey 2011–12 who received a written referral to a medical specialist for their own health in the preceding 12 months were asked whether they waited longer than they felt was acceptable to get an appointment with a medical specialist.

The numerator refers to waiting time for most recent appointment with a medical specialist in the last 12 months.

The numerator was calculated as the sum of calibrated sample weights for persons who felt they waited longer than acceptable for an appointment and who were enumerated within the particular Medicare local catchment. Population is limited to persons aged 15 years and over.

The denominator was calculated as the sum of calibrated sample weights for persons aged 15 years and over who were enumerated within the Medicare Local catchment.

Person level survey weights were calibrated to independent estimates of the population of interest, referred to as 'benchmarks'. Weights calibrated against population benchmarks ensure that the survey estimates conform to independently estimated distributions of the population, rather than to the distribution within the sample itself. These benchmarks account for the distribution of people across state and territory, age group, and sex categories. Note: These benchmarks have not been calibrated for Medicare Local geography.

Analysis by remoteness and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD) is based on usual residence of the person.

The measure is presented as a percentage.

95% confidence intervals and relative standard errors are calculated for rates.

National Health Performance Authority developed a suppression protocol to ensure robust reporting of these data at small areas. Data were suppressed based on the following rules:

• All point estimate percentages had a confidence interval width less than 20 percentage points.
• Point estimate percentages between 5% and 15% or between 85% and 95% were only included if their confidence interval width was less than 15 percentage points.
• Point estimate percentages that were less than or equal to 5% or greater than or equal to 95% were included if the confidence interval width was less than 10 percentage points.
• In addition to these constraints, five Medicare Local catchment areas were identified as having a small sample and potentially less robust estimates. These were Far West NSW, Great South Coast (Vic), Local Murray (Vic/NSW), Central and North West Queensland and Kimberley-Pilbara(WA). Point estimate percentages were only included where the confidence interval width was less than 10 percentage points.