Patient Assistance Transport Scheme

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing.

The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Can the minister update the council on what the government is doing—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! I can't hear the Hon. Mr Stephens. Please start again.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Can the minister update the council on what the government is doing to support South Australians in the regions to access health services beyond their region?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:01): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Marshall Liberal government is committed to ensuring that all South Australians can access the health care they need. We are delivering on that commitment by strengthening the way we assist regional people who have to travel away from their local community for specialist medical services.

Through the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme, subsidies are provided to assist South Australians who must travel more than 100 kilometres each way to access a medical specialist service not available locally. PATS subsidies contribute to the cost of a patient's accommodation and travel. This government has introduced several important changes to PATS over recent years to make it both more flexible and more accessible for regional patients. Those changes were made in direct response to feedback received from country South Australians and often through their local members of parliament.

The changes have been made in response to feedback we received about the difficulties people were experiencing in applying for a subsidy and the overly complicated guidelines that determine someone's eligibility to receive support. As a result, a range of information materials has been uploaded to a new, refreshed PATS website. These resources include a direct link to an online portal, which allows users to easily submit their claims and find essential information about accommodation providers and transport options.

There is a new online calculator tool, which allows patients to calculate the distance they travel to their treatment site and displays the amount of fuel subsidy they will be eligible for. Instructional videos explain the scheme and provide an overview on how to lodge a claim online. Improvements such as these are making it quicker and easier for thousands of eligible patients, patients such as Waikerie man Barry Harden, who was unexpectedly diagnosed with stage 4 cancer two years ago. Barry and his wife travel about 270 kilometres to Adelaide each fortnight for specialist care. They say PATS has been very helpful to them and that it has taken the pressure off them financially. For them, it is easy to apply for subsidies, which has taken away some of the stress involved in the logistics of travelling for medical treatment.

The website complements other recent improvements to PATS, including the broadening of the scheme so that a patient's family or carer is eligible for subsidies in the case of an emergency retrieval. Patients can now use Airbnb and similar platforms for their accommodation and patient carers or escorts can work interstate and still receive subsidies if the patient has had to travel for treatment.

It is important that patients and their loved ones are able to easily access travel support and receive subsidies in their time of need, and these latest improvements provide better care and a more streamlined system for patients travelling for treatment. I look forward to updating parliament further as we continue to improve PATS for regional South Australians.