One size does not fit all rural patients

REMOTE Queenslanders are being left stranded on the roadside with inadequate travel subsidies, says the KAP.

KAP leader and Member for Traeger Robbie Katter called out the Palaszczuk government’s Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme for its insufficient calculations, which left patients out of pocket.

He said Labor’s inflexible policymaking and “one-sizefits-all” approach has once again failed because the state was too big for one set of rules.

“These bureaucrats don’t get out to remote areas enough to understand the limitations and inadequacies of the PTSS; their inflexible policymaking doesn’t account for remoteness and vulnerable residents are paying the price,” Mr Katter said.

Greenvale residents are being left to foot the bill for at least four hours of their round trip to attend appointments in Townsville.

Currently, eligible patients can apply for the PTSS if using their private car at a rate of $0.30 per kilometre from the public hospital or public health facility nearest to the patient’s address.

For patients travelling from Greenvale, the value of the subsidy is incurred from the Charters Towers Hospital, not from the patient’s home, which falls far short of reflecting the full travel costs incurred.

It is 205km from Greenvale to Charters Towers.

Mr Katter said that to compound the issue, COVID-19 restrictions had forced many regular appointments to be moved from Townsville to Charters Towers via telehealth, meaning no PTSS is applied even though patients have travelled hours from their homes to attend.

Greenvale patients also had to contend with an unacceptably unsafe section of road.

“This is unacceptable ... I will continue to lobby the Department of Transport and Main Roads,” Mr Katter said.