Overview

Specialists generally only see their patients after receiving a ‘referral’ from a primary health care practitioner. They provide diagnostic and treatment services in a specific area of medicine, generally for a particular disease or body system. This is distinct from other practitioners, such as specialists in General Practice or allied health professionals, where a referral is not usually required.

Featured reports

Latest findings

The percentage of people who saw a GP was similar in regional PHN areas and metropolitan areas (90%)

Total specialist attendances differed across regional and metropolitan PHN areas, from 91 to 104 per 100 people.

People in metropolitan PHN areas had a higher number of GP services on average compared with regional areas.

About one in 20 people attended an allied health service for mental health care in metropolitan and regional PHN areas