Geographic variation in health system performance in rural areas of New South Wales, Australia

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51
Author(s):  
Claudia Slimings ◽  
Malcolm Moore
1967 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
WH Ewers

A morph-frequency cline and a size cline are described for the snail Velacumantus australis. The frequency of a white-banded form decreases clinally with latitude South. Living populations from Queensland and northern New South Wales have frequencies between 7 and 18% whereas all populations from southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, except those from Lake Illawarra, have frequencies between 2 and 5%. The frequency in Port Phillip Bay is less than 0.1%. The frequency in a sample from Swan River, Western Australia, was 9.1% about the same as in samples from localities of the same latitude on the eastern coast of Australia. The frequency in most fossil samples was similar to that in nearby living populations. The mean length of populations from the eastern states increases clinally with increase in latitude South, although there are some irregular fluctuations between adjacent populations which are probably influenced by population density.


BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e027639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael O Falster ◽  
Alastair H Leyland ◽  
Louisa R Jorm

ObjectivePreventable hospitalisations are used internationally as a performance indicator for primary care, but the influence of other health system factors remains poorly understood. This study investigated between-hospital variation in rates of preventable hospitalisation.SettingLinked health survey and hospital admissions data for a cohort study of 266 826 people aged over 45 years in the state of New South Wales, Australia.MethodBetween-hospital variation in preventable hospitalisation was quantified using cross-classified multiple-membership multilevel Poisson models, adjusted for personal sociodemographic, health and area-level contextual characteristics. Variation was also explored for two conditions unlikely to be influenced by discretionary admission practice: emergency admissions for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and hip fracture.ResultsWe found significant between-hospital variation in adjusted rates of preventable hospitalisation, with hospitals varying on average 26% from the state mean. Patients served more by community and multipurpose facilities (smaller facilities primarily in rural areas) had higher rates of preventable hospitalisation. Community hospitals had the greatest between-hospital variation, and included the facilities with the highest rates of preventable hospitalisation. There was comparatively little between-hospital variation in rates of admission for AMI and hip fracture.ConclusionsGeographic variation in preventable hospitalisation is determined in part by hospitals, reflecting different roles played by community and multipurpose facilities, compared with major and principal referral hospitals, within the community. Care should be taken when interpreting the indicator simply as a performance measure for primary care.


2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roslyn Meyer ◽  
Rachelle Gilroy ◽  
Peter Williams

Complete surveys of the dietetic workforce in NSW were conducted in 1984 and 1991 and have now been updated with a new survey in 2000. In the nine years since 1991, the total active workforce grew by 48%. Although there were significant improvements in the ratios of hospital dietitians per 100 acute beds (from 0.88 to1.08) and dietitians per million population (from 69.7 to 96.5), the supply of dietitians does not yet reach recommended levels, especially in rural areas. Other trends were significant increases in the proportion of dietitians employed outside hospitals (to 38% in 2000) and in non-clinical work (50% in 2000), and declines in the number of technical support staff for dietitians.


1991 ◽  
Vol 16 (04) ◽  
pp. 31-33
Author(s):  
Jenny Cruise

Many efforts have been made to determine the differences between the meaning of ‘rural’ areas and ‘isolated’ areas, and it is not until you are provided with the occasion to venture forth into outer rural areas that you realise the true meaning of isolation. In my position of ‘Mobile Support Teacher, Wentworth Area’, working with primary school children in the south-west of New South Wales, I have the opportunity to visit many station properties and families, and have gained an understanding of how these families cope with isolation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 389-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. C. PUECH ◽  
J. M. McANULTY ◽  
M. LESJAK ◽  
N. SHAW ◽  
L. HERON ◽  
...  

From December 1997 to April 1998, 1060 laboratory-confirmed cryptosporidiosis cases were reported in New South Wales, Australia. In a case-control study, compared with 200 controls, the 100 cases were younger (mean age 4·2 versus 7·1 years; P < 0·0001), more likely to report swimming at a public pool (59% versus 38%; adjusted OR and 95% CI = 2·7; 1·4–5·1) and swimming in a dam, river or lake (OR = 4·8; 1·1–20·3) but less likely to report drinking bottled water (OR = 0·4; 0·2–0·9). In subgroup analyses, in rural areas illness was associated mainly with contact with another person with diarrhoea, and in urban areas illness was associated with swimming in a public pool. Cryptosporidium oocysts were more commonly detected in pools to which at least two notified cases had swum (P = 0·04). Outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis can be prolonged, involve multiple pools and be difficult to control.


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