S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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2.11 Expenditure on Remote Mental Health Services by Remoteness For each of the five identified mental health clinician groups (see Table 2.13), the total rate of health expenditure declines with remoteness (AIHW, 2011). Metropolitan clinicians received a total rate of 8.0%, compared to 5.0% for those in remote areas. Table 2.13 Expenditure for Remote Mental Health Clinicians (Source: AIHW, 2011)

Major Cities

Inner Regional

Outer Regional

Remote

Very Remote

Psychiatrist

1.6 6.2 1.6 2.2 0.2 8.0

1.1 6.7 1.2 2.4 0.3 8.2

0.7 4.8 0.6 1.4 0.3 5.7

0.5 2.7 0.5 0.6 0.1 3.3

0.3 1.3 0.1 0.3 0.0 1.7

General practitioner Clinical psychologist Other psychologist Other allied health

Total

While spending allocated to admitting general patients increases with remoteness, expenditure on Medicare services and on the public Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) declines with remoteness (AIHW, 2011). This decline in expenditure on Medicare services is pronounced, with residents of remote and very remote areas receiving less than three quarters to half the rate of expenditure of major cities residents respectively. Expenditure on admitted patient services exhibited an opposite trend, with residents of major cities being recipients of the lowest level of age-standardised expenditure, increasing with remoteness, resulting in expenditure on very remote residents being almost twice that of metropolitan residents (see Figure 2.3; AIHW, 2011).