Poor rural health services creating hospital crisis, study shows

A national study has found that 6 per cent of all hospital admissions in Australia in recent years could have been prevented by vaccinations or early treatment by a local doctor.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s report says that the highest rates of preventable hospital admissions were in the Northern Territory and western Queensland, where medical facilities are scarce.

The study estimates that there were more than 715,000 preventable admissions during 2016-17, accounting for 2.8 million bed days at public and private hospitals.