The study found that the poor used public hospitals more than the rich, however for private hospitals this pattern was reversed - with patients in the poorest socioeconomic group having a 19 per cent lower hospitalisation rate than patients in the richest such group. Other findings were that, despite little change in the utilisation of public hospitals over the period, public hospital expenditures increased - in current prices - more rapidly (22%) than expenditures in private hospitals (17%).In this paper Agnes Walker, Linc Thurecht, Jim Pearse and Ann Harding examine trends between 1996-97 and 2000-01 in the patterns of hospitalisation of the NSW population. The study found that the poor used public hospitals more than the rich, however for private hospitals this pattern was reversed - with patients in the poorest socioeconomic group having a 19 per cent lower hospitalisation rate than patients in the richest such group. Other findings were that, despite little change in the utilisation of public hospitals over the period, public hospital expenditures increased - in current prices - morerapidly (22%) than expenditures in private hospitals (17%).