Indicator:

Number of patients aged 0-24 years who attended GP

Data source:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) analysis of Department of Health, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) claims data

Numerator:

Number of patients aged 0-24 years who attended GP

Denominator:

Total ERP aged 0-24 years

Unit of measure:

Percent (%)

Geography:

SA3

Notes:

MBS claims data do not include services provided to patients where no MBS benefit has been claimed, such as services subsidised by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, compensation arrangements, or jurisdictional salaried GP services provided in remote outreach clinics.

Indicator:

Number of GP attendances by patients aged 0-24

Data source:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) analysis of Department of Health, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) claims data

Numerator:

Number of GP attendances by patients aged 0-24

Denominator:

Total ERP aged 0-24 years

Unit of measure:

Percent (%)

Geography:

SA3

Notes:

MBS claims data do not include services provided to patients where no MBS benefit has been claimed, such as services subsidised by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, compensation arrangements, or jurisdictional salaried GP services provided in remote outreach clinics.

Indicator:

Total Medicare benefits paid ($) by patients aged 0-24 years who attended GP

Data source:

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) analysis of Department of Health, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) claims data

Numerator:

Total Medicare benefits paid ($) by patients aged 0-24 years who attended GP

Denominator:

Total ERP aged 0-24 years

Unit of measure:

Percent (%)

Geography:

SA3

Notes:

MBS claims data do not include services provided to patients where no MBS benefit has been claimed, such as services subsidised by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, compensation arrangements, or jurisdictional salaried GP services provided in remote outreach clinics.

Indicator:

Rate of Emergency Department presentations in children/young people

Policy Context:

Emergency department presentations provide information about who received care in Australia’s public and private hospital emergency departments. There are a range of possible reasons that some regions may have a greater proportion of children and young people presenting to an emergency department than others.

Areas where primary health services are less accessible (due to cost, geographic proximity, lack of awareness, or attitudinal factors) tend to have greater proportions of emergency department presentations due to higher rates of people seeking help at hospital for problems that would ideally be addressed in a primary care setting.¹

Therefore, proportions of hospital presentations, in combination with other indicators, can be used to help policy makers understand which regions may require greater access to primary services to provide sufficient and appropriate healthcare to children and young people.

Reference:

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Canberra ACT. Emergency Department Care 2016–17: Australian Hospital Statistics, 2017 [cited 2018 May 30]. Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/hospitals/ahs-2016-17-emergency-department-care/contents/table-of-contents

Data source:

Compiled by UWA and Telethon Kids Institute based on Emergency Department Data Collection, Department of Health Western Australia; ABS Estimated Residential Population estimates.

Numerator:

Number of ED presentations for selected age group

Denominator:

Total ERP for selected age group

Unit of measure:

Per 1,000 population

Geography:

SA2, SA3, LGA, HR, RDC

Data confidentiality:

Areas with count values 1 to 4 and where population is less than 50 have been suppressed.

Prior moving averages combine a sequence of 3 or 5 years of data prior to, and including, the selected year. The series are presented as overlapping sequences until the most recent year is included. Moving averages make it possible to combine more years of data to maximize sample size at each point while maintaining data confidentiality.

Notes:

The EDDC captures data relating to services provided to patients within public hospital emergency departments, contracted health entities and emergency services provided in smaller hospitals without a designated ED. The collection excludes episodes of non-admitted patient care provided in outpatient clinics or hospital inpatient departments.

Indicator:

Number of logged calls to Ngala parenting helpline service

Policy Context:

Ngala is an organisation that supports families, parents and carers to navigate parenting children (from before pregnancy up to having children 18 years of age) through a range of services across Western Australia.¹

Ngala’s parenting helpline is its main point of contact for parents and carers with parenting concerns. It functions both to provide free parenting advice and support and to refer families and individuals on to other relevant resources and services.¹

Parents may require assistance to gain reliable information about parenting and navigate the challenges it involves. If an area has a high number of calls this may indicate a higher level of need for parenting support, a lack of sufficient services and resources to provide this support or a combination of both these things.

Reference:

1. Ngala. Parenting, Family, Children and Youth Support. Kensington WA; Ngala; 2018 [cited 22 May 2018]. Available from: https://www.ngala.com.au/

Data source:

Ngala helpline administrative data

Numerator:

Number of logged calls made by parents to helpline

Denominator:

Not applicable

Unit of measure:

Frequency (N)

Geography:

SA3

Data confidentiality:

Areas with a numerator less than 5 have been suppressed

Notes:

Indicators presented as total calls for each year between 1999-2016

Indicator:

Average age of child at the time a call was made to Ngala helpline service

Policy Context:

Ngala is an organisation that supports families, parents and carers to navigate parenting children (from before pregnancy up to having children 18 years of age) through a range of services across Western Australia.¹

Ngala’s parenting helpline is its main point of contact for parents and carers with parenting concerns. It functions both to provide free parenting advice and support and to refer families and individuals on to other relevant resources and services.¹

The support parents require varies at different stages of their children’s lives. For example, parents of infants could require advice about sleep and feeding whereas parents of teenagers may be looking for assistance with relationships, behaviour management and education.

The average age of children at the time calls were made to Ngala can therefore provide insight into the type of support parents are currently seeking in different geographical areas.

Reference:

1. Ngala. Parenting, Family, Children and Youth Support. Kensington WA; Ngala; 2018 [cited 22 May 2018]. Available from: https://www.ngala.com.au/

Data source:

Ngala helpline administrative data

Numerator:

Sum of ages for all children at time of call

Denominator:

Total number of calls

Unit of measure:

Age in weeks

Geography:

SA3

Data confidentiality:

Areas with a denominator less than 5 have been suppressed

Notes:

Age represents the age of the child the call relates to

Indicator:

Service Data: Average call length to Ngala helpline service

Policy Context:

Ngala is an organisation that supports families, parents and carers to navigate parenting children (from before pregnancy up to having children 18 years of age) through a range of services across Western Australia.¹

Ngala’s parenting helpline is its main point of contact for parents and carers with parenting concerns. It functions both to provide free parenting advice and support and to refer families and individuals on to other relevant resources and services.¹

Based on the assumption that the amount of time a caller requires is associated with the amount of assistance needed, the length of calls to the Ngala helpline can be used as an indicator of the complexity of issues callers are presenting with and their level of need. Therefore, combined with other indicators, the average length of calls to Ngala for particular areas can be used to indicate the level of parenting assistance required in particular regions.

Reference:

1. Ngala. Parenting, Family, Children and Youth Support. Kensington WA; Ngala; 2018 [cited 22 May 2018]. Available from: https://www.ngala.com.au/

Data source:

Ngala helpline administrative data

Numerator:

Sum of call length (in minutes)

Denominator:

Total number of calls

Unit of measure:

Minutes

Geography:

SA3

Data confidentiality:

Areas with a numerator less than 5 have been supressed

Notes:

Call length represents the total duration of a help line call in minutes.