Queenslanders forced to travel long distances for medical treatment rely on government travel subsidies that have not been updated for a decade, when fuel was up to 50 cents a liter less expensive.
Key points:
- There are calls for the Queensland Government to introduce a travel allowance for people traveling for medical care
- Medical transport groups say they are out of pocket for most trips
- Some residents travel more than 300 km in a round trip for treatment
Despite the rising costs, Queensland Health said it had no immediate plans to increase the subsidy.
Patients can apply to be reimbursed for part of their travel costs through the Patient Transport Subsidy Scheme (PTSS), which allows them to claim 30 cents per kilometer travelled.
Patients and medical transportation groups said they were about $40 out of pocket for every $100 spent on travel.
Patients struggling
Gympie Medical Transport Service manager Sally Carkeet said her not-for-profit service drove patients to major hospitals between Hervey Bay and Brisbane.
He believes the subsidy should rise to 80 cents per kilometer to offset rising fuel, car maintenance and insurance costs, saying many patients cannot afford to travel.
“[Some] clients travel to receive radium treatment every day for six weeks. That money becomes a real problem,” Ms Carkeet said.
“People are trying to feed themselves, not worrying about how they’re going to get to their next doctor’s appointment, 100 kilometers away.
Denise Pearce (middle) uses Gympie’s medical transport service to get to appointments. (Supplied: Gympie Medical Transport Service)
“It is a fundamental right and there should be support.”
Gympie customer Irene Downing has relied on medical transport services since her husband died in 2014.
Ms Downing has had bowel cancer and two heart surgeries, with many of her appointments scheduled at Brisbane’s Prince Charles Hospital or the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.
He said he would travel 320 km and 200 km respectively for each appointment.
“I think the government could do more to take the pressure off people who are sick and can’t afford expensive travel,” Ms Downing said.
“Rebates can take up to three months to return, after paying $1,000.
“If you go regularly, it’s very difficult financially.”
More information on the cost of living in Australia:
“Confused” process.
Ms Carkeet said she believed patients were discouraged from making PTSS claims because the process was difficult to navigate.
“There’s a lot of excessive paperwork and then there’s the long wait for the funds,” he said.
“Meanwhile, patients need to travel several times, around 30 times in six weeks, because of their illness.
“So they run out of money and can’t go.
“It’s up to us to find a way.”
Ms Carkeet says each car in Gympie’s medical transport service travels between 90 and 120 hours a month. (Supplied: Gympie Medical Transport Service)
LNP supports calls for change
Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli told participants at a health forum held in Gympie this month that an LNP government would review the subsidy.
He said the PTSS, which was last increased in 2012-13, was based on the goodwill and generosity of transport providers.
“Think about the price of fuel in the last decade and the costs of running a vehicle,” he said.
“No government agency would be able to fly someone from Gympie to the Sunny Coast and back for $100, not in a million years.”
Crisafulli said people “would not get treatment” if transport providers folded.
“Continuous improvement” system.
A Queensland Health spokesman said the government recognized the need to use external health services and therefore introduced the PTSS to help with costs, adding that $97.2 million was allocated during the 2021-22 financial year.
In 2017, the Queensland Health Ombudsman examined the scheme and found that it had “significant problems” with its administration due to the decentralized nature of the scheme, and that Queensland Health had “failed to address these”.
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The Ombudsman recommended the government introduce reforms to provide “fair, equitable and consistent support” for patients by implementing its own recommendations from three previous reviews.
The Queensland Health spokesman said it was “continually improving” the system following the consultation, but there was no review to increase the motor vehicle subsidy.
Health Minister Yvette D’Ath was not available for comment.