Only two in three people aged 15 to 34 years are satisfied with their General Practitioner (GP) experience, according to the new results released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

Through the Patient Experience Survey, it was found that among the 5.2 million people aged 15 to 34 years, only 67 per cent felt that their GP listened carefully to them, compared to 83 per cent for people aged 65 years and over. 

In addition, 75 per cent of young people felt that their GP always showed them respect, compared to 87 per cent for people aged 65 years and over. 

Moreover, only 70 per cent of young people felt that their GP spent enough time with them, compared with 84 per cent for people aged 65 years and over. 

Further, the results of the survey also showed that young people aged 15 to 34 years used health services less often than older patients, with 77 cent seeing a GP compared to 96 per cent. 

“People aged 15 to 34 years were three times more likely to delay seeing a medical specialist (27 per cent compared with 9 per cent) and nearly twice as likely to delay seeing a dental professional (35 per cent compared with 20 per cent) than those aged 65 years and over,” Director of Health Statistics at ABS, Louise Gates said. 

It was found that young people were more likely to delay seeing a health professional due to cost with the delay rate at 13 per cent, compared to the 2 per cent for older patients. 

“Similarly, 21 per cent delayed or did not see a dental professional due to cost compared with 9 per cent of people aged 65 years and over,” Ms Gates said.