Transport to treatment for people with chronic disease

The Council of Social Service of NSW has published Staying alive: transport to treatment for people living with a chronic disease.  This report focuses on the unmet health transport needs associated with two of the most prevalent chronic diseases, cancer and chronic kidney disease. 

Gaps in the current system result in inequities in access to these services for those who need it most. This includes people with limited financial means and fewer public transport options. The extent of this unmet need in NSW is unknown, but the findings of this report are based on a national survey of health professionals engaged in cancer and kidney disease care in 2014. The report reveals that:

• 77% of respondents in dialysis units, and 81% of respondents in cancer centres, reported some level of difficulty accessing transport to and from treatment
• 66% indicated that there were not enough parking spaces to meet demand at dialysis units
• The greatest burden of unmet non-emergency transport needs was borne by older people (77%) people on low incomes (74%), people living in rural and regional areas (66%), people with a disability (44%), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (29%), and people from culturally diverse backgrounds (21%).