Patient Assisted Travel Scheme leaving country WA residents unfairly out of pocket for medical treatment, advocates say

Katie Willcocks was frustrated with her experience with the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme. (ABC Esperance: Hayden Smith)

Katie Willcocks was attacked by a swarm of bees while mowing her lawn.

The terrifying incident, days before Christmas last year, sent her into preterm labour, with the 42-year-old flown to hospital in Perth.

It was about five months before she returned to her home near Lake Grace in Western Australia's eastern Wheatbelt.

But her time in the city also had a financial impact — with family-friendly accommodation near the hospital, transport and childcare totalling about $68,000.

The mother-of-two has so far been reimbursed about $14,000 through the WA government's Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS), which provides financial support to regional and remote residents for certain medical treatments that can't be received locally.

But with the lowest fuel subsidy in the nation and an accommodation rebate of about $106 per night, there are fresh concerns that the scheme is failing to meet the needs of those who rely on it.

Ms Willcocks described her experience with PATS as being "beyond a joke".

Her frustrations were aimed at the logistical hurdles and wait times for having claims processed, as well as the "inadequate" rebate payments.

"One hundred dollars a night, at the drop of a hat, doesn't cut it," Ms Willcocks said.

"We don't expect a goldmine and we don't expect it all to be covered … we just expect it to be fair."

Amid the cost-of-living crisis, the state's community service sector also has issues with the efficacy and scope of the PATS program.

'Grave concerns' 

At 16 cents per kilometre, WA's PATS fuel subsidy is the lowest in the country.

By comparison, South Australia pays 32 cents per kilometre, while New South Wales pays 40 cents.

In WA, PATS recipients are entitled to $106 per night for commercial accommodation, with a further $15 for an "approved support person".

But the average price of a night's accommodation in Perth exceeds $200.

In its pre-budget submission, the peak body for the WA community service sector urged the government to improve the adequacy and effectiveness of PATS.

WA Council of Social Services chief executive Louise Giolitto said she had "grave concerns" about the scheme.

"There definitely needs to be an increase in funding and resources for people to come to Perth metro to receive those health services we know are simply not available in many regional locations," she said.

Patients are reimbursed by PATS, but Ms Giolitto said many people struggled to pay up-front.

"The rebates people are getting for accommodation are a lot less than the actual cost of staying in commercial accommodation, and we know how hard it is to get accommodation in Perth at the moment," she said.

"No person should be forced to choose between their health needs and other cost-of-living measures – this needs to be fixed immediately."

Recommendations ignored

A 2015 inquiry into PATS found the 16 cents per kilometre fuel subsidy to be out of line with "realistic" costs.

Back then, the average price of unleaded fuel in WA was between $1.30 and 1.50 per litre.

A submission to the inquiry from the Cancer Council of WA described the reimbursement as "grossly inadequate".

But, almost a decade later, it remains unchanged.

In 2021, the government increased the accommodation subsidy from $60 per night to $100 per night.

However, the 2015 report also recommended that the accommodation subsidies be reviewed annually and adjusted "if necessary, in line with inflation".

Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said that between July last year and the end of March, PATS had provided $33.76 million in subsidies to more than 30,000 West Australians needing "specialist medical care not available locally".

She said the government regularly monitored PATS, while investing "heavily in boosting access to healthcare services in regional communities".

Ms Sanderson was one of five MPs who took part in the 2014-15 inquiry into PATS.

Shadow Minister for Regional Health Martin Aldridge said the fuel and accommodation subsidies needed to increase, citing the government's forecast 2024-25 surplus of $2.6 billion.

"When fuel is often north of $2 a litre in our regions … it is grossly insufficient," he said.

"Western Australia is the wealthiest state in the nation, yet we pay the least to our regional patients accessing services."

The Member for the Agricultural Region said constituents regularly came forward with PATS-related issues.

'It should be automatic'

Ms Willcocks said she was happy to be back on the farm with her husband and children.

But the stress of her recent health ordeal has taken a toll.

Apart from expanding the PATS subsidies, she would also like the scheme's paperwork requirements simplified.

"It's the simple things that become hard because you're away from home – you don't have a printer or scanner," she said.

"It should be automatic … they managed to develop an app overnight to track us all with COVID.

"So why are we still doing this ludicrous method of old school, print-sign-scan."

She said people in the regions deserved better.

"It's a certain type of person that can live in the bush and live regionally," she said.

"But what's the government going to do to help keep us here?"