Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme costs could be reduced with improved health services in the bush

The scheme's costs have risen 21 per cent to $84.24 million in 2022/23 compared to the previous 2021/22 period of $69.6 million.

The biggest increase was recorded by the North West Hospital and Health Service (HHS), Cairns and Hinterland HHS, Torres and Cape HHS and Central Queensland HHS.

Rural Doctors Association of Queensland president Dr Alex Dunn, who is based in Gympie, said the increase was a big rise, but was probably multifactorial.

But he said some patients could have their travel to larger health centres reduced if services in rural and regional Queensland were improved and there was a more stable health workforce.

"The subsidy is...to access care that can't be provided locally and usually that is going to be specialist care or specialist imaging," he said.

Dr Dunn said he worked in Cape York for nine months and it was one of the places with the highest budgets for patient travel subsidies because the size of the population did not warrant specialist services.

But he said there were areas where it would be good to see more growth in the strengthening of health services so people could get access to generalist and specialist services closer to home.

Dr Dunn said the association supported outreach models "where a specialist comes out to communities as opposed to communities coming into them".

"Ideally, that's provided by their local health network - that might be an endocrinologist coming out from Rockhampton to Longreach for example or it might be a gynaecologist from Cairns going out to Weipa," he said.

"So there are a lot of different elements there and there is room for improvement, but there's also invariably going to be a need for some specialist services that are beyond the capacity, not ability, but beyond the capacity of some areas to provide.

"There are some areas of Queensland where you definitely don't have outreach services and don't have access to other specialist imaging services such ultrasound, MRI or CT - and a lot of people need to travel to get that."

But Dr Dunn said the more self sufficient services were the better it was for patients.

"And over time that goes hand in hand in building a sustainable localised workforce which can build the services you can provide and also develop the skill set of the doctors and nurses who work there to provide some of those services that people may have had to travel for in the past," he said.

"All patients need to get access to that same level of care and unfortunately that (involves) a lot of travel."

The scheme's subsidy rates for commercial travel and accommodation have increased thanks to an additional $70.3 million over four years.

Queensland Health spent $84.24 million or an average of $230,000 per day, supporting patients who needed to travel for essential specialist healthcare last financial year.

All HHSs except for Central West and Children's Health Queensland reported an increase in expenditure from the 2021-22 financial year.

Since July 1, 2023, accommodation rates for eligible PTSS patients rose 15 per cent from $60 per person a night to $70 per person a night while mileage rates increased 13 per cent from 30 cents a kilometre to 34 cents a kilometre.

The 2023-24 PTSS budget of $113.8 million was bolstered by additional funding to support the repatriation of deceased patients to their Queensland place of residence, their Queensland Traditional Homelands or their Queensland First Nations Country.

Expenditure dipped in 2020-21 and 2021-22, largely due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The PTSS provides financial assistance mostly to eligible patients in rural, remote and regional Queensland who need to travel more than 50 kilometres from their closest public health facility to access essential specialist health services.

The scheme assists with commercial travel, accommodation, and private vehicle expenses, while subsidies also exist for air, bus, ferry, or rail fares for eligible patients.

Minister for Health Shannon Fentiman said she was committed to supporting Queenslanders to access the health care they needed, no matter where they live.

"The Patient Travel Subsidy Scheme has helped thousands of Queenslanders receive the essential specialist health care they need," she said.

"We have provided more than $900 million in travel and accommodation subsidies over the past 10 financial years including this financial year.

"The PTSS is a vital scheme and we will continue to ensure it is accessible to all eligible Queenslanders."