Jennifer Talbot admits she underestimated the time and money she would have to spend to look after her health.
Over the past 12 months, the Charters Towers local has driven up and down the Flinders Highway, sometimes three times a week, to see her orthopaedic rheumatologist and endocrinologist in Townsville, which is 130 kilometres away.
Ms Talbot said she had to take time off work to travel which added stress to her finances.
"It's having less money because I'm not at work," she said.
"I'm having to put my mortgage on hold and drop other payments down to try to keep the books balanced — it's not been easy."
Rural subsidy
To help with affording the travel and accommodation costs that 200,000 rural and remote residents must spend to see specialist doctors, the Queensland government offers subsidies.
Since January 2013, the Patient Transport Subsidy Scheme (PTSS) has reimbursed people 30 cents per km travelled and paid up to $60 a night per person for accommodation.
Ms Talbot said while the subsidy helped, it had failed to keep up as the costs of living increased.
"It all adds up; the fuel, the [vehicle] wear and tear, the food," she said.
"If you have to stay overnight … the subsidies are only $60 a night. You could pay anything up to $300 in Townsville for a night of accommodation."
Brisbane-based transport operator and patient advocate Justine Christerson said a lot of people she helped were distressed about the lack of support.
"It can get to the point where people are reconsidering having to travel and obtain that healthcare because it's all becoming too much," she said.
Ms Christerson, who has launched a petition calling for a review of the scheme, has seen a significant increase in demand for her free services.
"People can't afford to catch taxis when they're running late from the airport to their hospital appointment, so they're calling on me," she said.
"Whereas if the government was to consider putting in place some sort of taxi reimbursement, perhaps I wouldn't have to be paying so much [for] like three tanks of fuel a week."
Increased investment
Queensland Health said funding for the PTSS had increased by $2.5 million.
The scheme was boosted from $97.2 million in 2021–22 to $99.7 million in 2022–23 as part of the expanded investment.
The department said there had been continued improvements to the scheme since a 2017 Queensland Ombudsman report, including better use of electronic forms.
No formal review of the PTSS subsidy amounts has commenced, however collation of data and stakeholder engagement is ongoing.
The Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ) said the scheme should be reviewed yearly.
"With the increases in inflation, petrol prices, everything else, I think it really needs a significant increase," said RDAQ president Matt Masel.
"Right now, it really doesn't cover anything like the costs that are involved."
Dr Masel said he believed the scheme also needed to be made simpler.
"For quite a few patients, I think they miss out simply because they don't get all of the four parts of the form properly completed," he said.
"[Patients] don't understand the complexities of … which types of specialists are suitable and which aren't … all of that makes it even harder."
Ms Talbot remains hopeful she will live a healthy life once she sorts out her current health issues.
But her current situation has highlighted the disparity in healthcare between the city and the country.
"I don't understand why it's not across the board — why they can't make it a level playing field for all Queenslanders," Ms Talbot said.
"I just think it would be fair if they either provided the medical services in rural areas or they increased those subsidies to cover what they're meant to cover."
