Assistance with travel costs to receive medical care

WA Health provides financial assistance to eligible Western Australians who need to travel to receive medical care.

Community patient transport services 

The Planned Community Transport service provides financial subsidy to patients travelling between community locations in the Perth metropolitan area, such as from hospital to home, or home to medical facilities.

To be eligible, a patient must:

• be a Western Australian resident
• have a written referral from a medical practitioner specifying that it is clinically necessary for them to be transported using the service
• be over the age of 65, or 55 for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples'.

Clinically necessary means that the patient:

• requires transport to or from a Medical Facility to diagnose or treat an illness, injury, condition, disease or symptoms
• is expected to receive diagnosis and treatment of the illness, injury, condition, disease or symptoms which meets accepted standards of medicine
• requires minimal clinical supervision, monitoring or care during transport
• has a referral or other documentation from a medical practitioner confirming that the patient requires clinical supervision, monitoring or care during transport.

Country and interstate travel

WA Health provides travel and accommodation support for permanent country Western Australian residents who need to travel more than 100kms (one-way) to access treatment away from home.

Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS)

The Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS) provides financial subsidy towards travel and accommodation to eligible permanent country residents who need to access specialist medical services that are not available close to their homes.

There are eligibility requirements and the PATS Scheme does not cover all costs associated with travelling to attend a specialist appointment.

Visit the WA Country Health Service website to find out more about PATS assistance (external site).

Interstate Patient Travel Scheme (IPTS)

The Interstate Patient Travel Scheme (IPTS) provides travel and accommodation support to permanent WA residents who need to travel interstate to obtain essential, specialist medical treatments that are not available in WA.

The IPTS covers travel expenses such as return economy airfare from the patient’s place of residence to the interstate health care unit, reasonable accommodation, taxis to and from the airports and in some circumstances for Health Care Card holders, a living away allowance.

There are also eligibility requirements for medical services under this Scheme.

Find out more about the IPTS.

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This publication is provided for education and information purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care. Information about a therapy, service, product or treatment does not imply endorsement and is not intended to replace advice from your healthcare professional. Readers should note that over time currency and completeness of the information may change. All users should seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional for a diagnosis and answers to their medical questions.