Lack of transport is a barrier to accessing GP services, particularly for disabled people and tamariki Māori

Posted 5 days ago by Kirsty Craig 2 Minute(s) to read

We have just updated two of our surveillance reports in the Transport domain using data from the 2023/24 NZ Health Survey. The key facts are below, together with links to the full reports.

Unmet need for GP services due to a lack of transport

In 2023/24, an estimated 159,000 New Zealanders (1.4% of children and 3.4% of adults) had experienced an unmet need for GP services in the past 12 months as they were unable to access transport.
Lack of transport was a major barrier to accessing GP services for disabled adults, with around one in 12 people (8.4%) affected in 2023/24. Disabled adults were nearly three times as likely as non-disabled adults to be unable to access GP services due to a lack of transport.
In 2023/24, women were more likely than men to experience an unmet need for GP services due to a lack of transport (4.3% of women compared with 2.2% of men).
Lack of transport was also a barrier to Māori and Pacific people of all ages in 2023/24. The level of inequality was particularly stark for Māori children, who were more than four times more likely than non-Māori children to have experienced an unmet need for GP services due to a lack of transport.
In 2023/24, adults living in the most deprived areas were more than three times more likely to experience an unmet need for GP services due to a lack of transport than people living in the least deprived areas.

Surveillance report: Unmet need for GP services due to lack of transport

Active transport to and from school

In 2023/24, 38.8% of children aged 5–14 years used active transport to travel to or from school.
There has been no notable change in the percentage of children using active transport to school since 2011/12.
In general, older children (aged 10–14 years) were more likely to participate in active transport than younger children (5–9 years).
In 2023/24, there was no significant difference in the use of active transport between ethnic groups, socioeconomic deprivation groups, or by health region.

Surveillance report: Active transport to and from school