Health in Penrith

The Penrith Local Government Area (LGA) is located at the western fringe of the Sydney metropolitan area - about 54 kilometres from the Sydney GPO.

Penrith is on the western edge of Sydney and covers 404 square kms. Around 80% of the City is rural and rural-residential.

Penrith is home to 219,149 people. [source: Penrith City Community Profile]

Health Statistics

Some key statistics pertaining to the health of the Penrith area include:

Median age is 35 years
18.2% of people are 60 years or older
More residents work in health care and social assistance than any other industry
23% of people were born overseas and 20% spoke a language other than English at home
21% single person households
4.6% unemployment rate
The childhood immunisation rate is 85.25%
The most prevalent diagnoses are hypertension (12.8%), hyperlipidaemia (10.7%), anxiety (9.1%), asthma (8.4%) and osteoarthritis (4.71%)
63.6% of residents are overweight or obese.
11.1% of residents are daily or irregular smokers
There are 76 general practices and 51 community pharmacies

Aged care services - both home care and nursing home care.
Workforce problems - shortage of healthcare providers
Access to information - knowledge of services and need for a central information source
Access to Specialist and Psychiatry services
Boundaries with accessing health services in other areas
Safety and security within health facilities
Rapid growth - growing demand on health services
Cultural diversity – culturally appropriate health services
Communication - improving communication between health services, healthcare providers and consumers
Health services for the homeless - better access to services
Suicide support services – support for young people in crisis
Men’s Health - inadequately supported in the area
Renal Dialysis - shortage of services and access difficulties
Dental services - costs, waiting lists and access difficulties
Multidisciplinary treatment - more holistic care sought