Patients prepared to fight for digs

Mrs Cowling, who has been suffering from lupus since 1974, but was only diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2003, travels

to Sydney four times a year, not only for her own treatment but also for her two sons, who both have severe disabilities.

When in Sydney, the Cowlings would stay at the Royal North Shore Hospital’s patient accommodation facility Blue Gum Lodge but now it has closed, she doesn’t know where they’ll be able to stay.

The rooms at Blue Gum Lodge were offered at rates compatible with the State government’s Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS), which reimbursed patients who had to travel more than 100 kilometres one-way to access specialist medical treatment.

IPTAAS offers $43 per night for a single room or $60 a night for a double, or $20 per person per night for private accommodation.

There is also 19 cents a kilometre fuel allowance; transport allowances including approved air travel covering the cost of the fare less GST and taxis subsidies of between $20 and $160, depending on the length of stay at the treatment site.

“I also travel to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle to see my immunologist, so I can only hope the Kookaburra Cottage patient accommodation there isn’t going to face closure as well,” Mrs Cowling said.

“These facilities are so important – we’ve been going backwards and forwards to the hospital since my sons were 13 months old and there’s no question the facilities are needed, especially by rural patients.

“If the government is going to close the affordable, wheelchair-accessible accommodation that was available, they must provide an alternative.”

Mrs Cowling is not the only one who has depended upon the accommodation – her brother Rob Coulton and his wife Teesh, Dungowan, stayed at Blue Gum Lodge before it closed, with others in Bendemeer and Moonbi also travelling regularly to the city for treatments that aren’t available at rural hospitals.

“What we need are people’s stories – if people contact their State government representatives and tell them what affect these closures are having on them and their families, we might have a chance,” Mrs Cowling said.

“We need support from city people as well as country people – these closures are targeting vulnerable people.

“We’ll fight to the end for these facilities.”

Is affordable hospital accommodation an issue for you or your community? Email The Land or tweet @TheLandNews and let us know.