Australians Told “Don’t Wait Mate”

The Continuity of Care Collaboration (CCC) has announced a new campaign to encourage Australians not to delay vital healthcare.

The Don’t Wait Mate campaign is the result of concerning data that shows a decrease in patient attendance at various health services across Australia. According to research by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) there was a drop of 24% in face to face consultations in June 2020 compared to the same month last year.

The ‘Don’t Wait Mate’ campaign encourages Australians to look after their non-COVID-19 health needs during the pandemic.

Please continue to attend vital healthcare appointments, pathology tests, scans and screenings during COVID-19 restrictions. pic.twitter.com/tMxsf25iyl

— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) September 23, 2020

During the first wave of COVID-19 pathology testing rates were down 40% on average across Australia and are currently down by 25% in Victoria.

Data from a major private laboratory and representative of national trends revealed that in April diabetes testing rates fell 54% compared to the weekly average in February 2020. Cervical cancer screening rates fell by 67%, tests for prostate cancer reduced by 56%, and other cancer related tests dropped by as much as 60%.

Although healthcare is one of the permitted reasons to leave home under COVID-19 restrictions, patients are still delaying seeking the care they need to manage chronic conditions, or to address new symptoms.

Research results from a consumer survey by the CCC found the most common reasons patients are delaying health checks. Over half of survey respondents (59%), had delayed health checks due to fear of catching COVID-19. 36% were worried that health services would be too busy to see them, and 23% thought they would be breaking the rules to leave their homes to receive healthcare.

The purpose of the Don’t Wait Mate campaign is to raise awareness of the importance of continuing regular healthcare and to ensure that Australians feel safe and confident to access care during the pandemic.

If you would like to know more about this campaign, or to help spread the message please visit https://continuityofcare.org/