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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-09-15 Daily Xml
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PATIENT ASSISTANCE TRANSPORT SCHEME

Mr TRELOAR (Flinders) (15:40): I would like to speak today on the Patient Assistance Transport Scheme or PATS, as it is widely known. This particular scheme operates in regional areas. This issue has been given a great deal of prominence by my colleagues on this side of this house and certainly also by the Independent members of the house representing those in the regions. As members would be aware, the scheme is aimed at assisting patients in rural and regional areas where there is a need to travel to seek specialist medical care which is not available in, or within 100 kilometres of, their community. In fact, almost every family in the regions at some point has used this particular scheme.

The scheme involves some financial contribution by the government as reimbursement for travel and accommodation costs, and it is a scheme which I broadly support. It is very much appreciated by those in the country. In fact, it is essential, I would suggest, for those in the country who need to seek specialist attention here in the capital city of Adelaide. In many instances this involves cancer sufferers and the like having to travel to Adelaide to receive specialist medical care. As the Minister for Health and the member for Stuart have stated on the record recently, this is a reality that cannot be avoided. Specialist care cannot be provided all over the state and in every regional centre; however, this cannot be used as an excuse for country patients not receiving the best of care.

During the state election campaign the Liberal Party pledged to boost the funding for the PAT Scheme by $4 million per year. This, sadly, was not matched by the re-elected Labor government. That is a great shame, because over the life of this government there is no increase in the funding of PATS.

Mr Griffiths interjecting:

Mr TRELOAR: Correction from the member for Goyder: the Liberal Party pledge was not $4 million per year, it was actually $1 million, but to bring the scheme to—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your genuine mistake is acknowledged.

Mr TRELOAR: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Further to the issue at hand, currently there is a 16¢ per kilometre reimbursement for motor vehicle travel, which is simply unsatisfactory when you use the ATO comparison of 55¢ and, indeed, up to 70¢ per kilometre. The other glaring shortfall is the accommodation reimbursement, which stands at $30 per person per night, which is obviously not enough when you know it is difficult to get a room in an Adelaide motel or hotel for anything less than $90 a night.

A number of my constituents have raised the suggestion of specialists travelling to country areas. Obviously, this is not always practical, but in many areas of frontline health care this would actually be a cost-effective way of delivering health outcomes to patients. There is no doubt the scheme could be improved with indexing measures so as to remove the pressure on patients, who are already suffering enough without the financial stress and burden of travelling and accommodation costs. My point is there has been little done to improve the funding of this scheme over the life of this government—since 2001, in fact—and it is a great disappointment to people in my electorate and, indeed, people right across rural and regional South Australia.

With your leave, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will change topics with the remaining time of my grieve and send congratulations to a business in my electorate of Flinders. Congratulations to Michael and Dale Trenberth at the Gold Factory in Tumby Bay. A piece of their jewellery, which was manufactured on site at Tumby Bay, was entered in a biennial competition, which is recognised as one of the most prestigious awards in Australia for the entire jewellery industry, and they won that particular award for their piece. This is a wonderful effort from a very small and very local business, so my congratulations to them.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am sure the congratulations of every member in the house go to them. That is really wonderful.

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