Patient Assistance Transport Scheme

Mr FATCHEN (Mount Gambier) (15:39): The Mount Gambier electorate lies approximately 440 kilometres from Adelaide. That means around a five-hour hour drive each way. While we are the second largest city in South Australia, unfortunately that does not translate into access to the same medical services available to people living in metropolitan Adelaide. We continue to have a shortage of Mount Gambier-based specialists. For patients, that means either waiting for a visiting specialist, or, more often than not, making the trip to Adelaide.

Over recent years we have seen meaningful improvements to the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme (PATS). The travel subsidy has increased to 32.8¢ per kilometre and in July this year the accommodation subsidy increased from $44 to $110 per night and with an authorised escort to $154. These are positive and welcoming changes and I commend the government for making them, but there is still one significant gap in the scheme. For patients who do not hold a concession card the first night's accommodation is not covered and South Australia now stands alone on this.

We are the only state that does not provide accommodation assistance from the first eligible night. For someone living in metropolitan Adelaide, travelling to a specialist appointment might mean an hour in the car. For someone in Mount Gambier it can mean a 10-hour round trip. We do not have statistics showing how many regional patients travel to Adelaide for a single appointment and return home the same day but, anecdotally, I know this happens regularly and cost is a major reason.

I recently spoke with a local mum of three who had just returned from Adelaide after taking her 12-year-old son to see a specialist. The specialist only consults on Thursdays. Both she and her husband work full-time and, rather than take two days off work and pay for accommodation they could not claim through PATS, she managed to secure a midday appointment. She and her son left Mount Gambier at 6.00am. They drove five hours to Adelaide, the specialist appointment lasted just 10 minutes, and then they got straight back in the car and drove another five hours home. That is 10 hours on the road in one day for a 10-minute medical appointment. That should not be a decision regional families feel financially pressured to make.

This same family also has a 15-year-old son with severe allergies who regularly needs to see a specialist in Adelaide. His specialist consults on Mondays, meaning they generally need to travel to Adelaide on a Sunday and pay for accommodation themselves because this first night is not covered. These are not holidays, these are not optional trips, they are families travelling hundreds of kilometres because the medical care their children need simply is not available closer to home.

I understand our health system is under severe pressure. I understand there is a shortage of doctors and specialists across the country and that this disproportionately affects regional communities. What I do not understand is why we continue to have a rule that can financially discourage regional patients from staying overnight when they have a five-hour journey ahead of them. People are making a 10-hour round trip in one day to avoid the cost of a hotel room.

Others are finishing work at 5pm then driving five hours late into the night to Adelaide so they do not have to take another day off work. All of this adds financial pressure, fatigue and stress at a time when people are already dealing with a medical issue, either their own or that of someone they love. PATS exists to reduce the disadvantage regional South Australians face simply because of where they live. Covering the first night's accommodation would be a relatively small change to the scheme, but for regional patients and families it could make an enormous difference.

We have made good progress on PATS. I now urge the government to take the next logical step and remove the first night's accommodation restriction. Regional South Australians should not have to choose between paying for a hotel room they cannot afford and spending 10 hours on the road in a single day just to access essential medical care.