See Can Assist’s testimony to the NSW Upper House on this matter.
Excerpt from Submission below:
Our submission seeks increased budget allocation for an existing government scheme – The Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS), not only to lift rebate levels but also to improve the profile and processes of the scheme. We see broad applicability to the customer service, health, and regional clusters. Can Assist has actively been seeking change for some time now. To date we have: made two separate submissions to the Inquiry into Health outcomes and access to health and hospital services in rural, regional, and remote NSW, provided our personal testimony to the Upper House Committee conducted two meetings with NSW Health and one meeting with Minister Hazzard. We have met with several other regional MPs on the matter.
Excerpt from Submission below:
I write from the Cancer Patients’ Assistance Society of NSW (Can Assist). We have been operating for 66 years now with the sole purpose of providing financial assistance and bespoke support to assist rural and remote cancer patient’s access treatment. We deliver around $2-2.5M a year across more than 10,000 instances of financial assistance. Our aid is typically split between travel/accommodation (40%) out of pocket medical costs (40%) and a variety of other bespoke expenses including utilities…
I write to represent the experiences and perspectives of rural/remote chemotherapy consumers.
Comparison points rural/remote vs urban areas –
- Financial access to chemotherapy infusion/injection (the direct cost of treatment).
Can Assist is rarely approached to help finance the cost of chemotherapy injection/infusion treatments. Our recipients across the state commonly have access to…
Excerpt from Submission below:
We identify THREE broad problems with regards to the provision of palliative care in country NSW. The severity of these problems, and their consequences are magnified with distance from metropolitan and regional areas. Our insight speaks predominantly to the experience of those who choose to die at home – which, in a rural setting is typically very expensive and, in many cases, simply not possible.
See our Executive Directors opening speech and subsequent discussion.
Excerpt from Submission below:
SUBMISSION FOR NEW INQUIRY INTO HEALTH OUTCOMES AND SERVICES IN RURAL, REGIONAL AND REMOTE NSW
Can Assist is the largest cancer support network in rural, regional and remote NSW; active in 56 branches with near 3,000 members. Our branches are operated by local volunteers who live and work in these areas and therefore have a detailed understanding of local needs. In the 2019 fiscal year we delivered some $2.14 million in financial assistance (representing an increase of 40% over the prior 5 years) across more than 9,000 requests throughout country NSW.
Improving equitable access to cancer services for country NSW residents has been our mission for over 65 years. Our growth comes from community grass roots with each branch being initiated, funded and operated by locals. Our oldest branch (Forbes) opened in 1956 and our youngest branch (Merriwa) opened in June this year. We consider ourselves a key stakeholder in this inquiry.
We receive some 90% of our distress referrals through health workers of the Local Health Districts. We are highly regarded and well known throughout country NSW. We congratulate the government for conducting this inquiry and appreciate the opportunity to make a submission.
We write to table the views of the seven members of the Regional not-for-profit Accommodation Providers Group (RAPG) who provide accommodation for patients and carers across Regional and Rural NSW, and the views of Cancer Assistance Patients Network (Can Assist) – the largest cancer support group for all residents outside of metropolitan NSW. The RAPG provides a critical gateway to the major hospitals in rural/regional NSW, operating north to the Queensland border, south to the Victorian border and west through to Orange and Dubbo. Can Assist is a grass roots charity that operates in 55 rural and remote locations across the State with the single-minded purpose of helping country people pay the extra bills associated with accessing cancer treatment.
Submission: Future Drought Fund
Excerpt from Submission below:
Our charity is called Can Assist. Our purpose is to assist people from country Australia who find themselves in financial distress as a consequence of a cancer diagnosis. We know the statistics; country people are 17 times more likely to experience “geographical or financial barriers”, compared to their city counterparts when faced with a cancer diagnosis. A cancer diagnosis in the country is not only more expensive, but it is also more deadly. Indeed, for some cancers, patients are up to three times more likely to die within 5 years of diagnosis. With one in every two being diagnosed with cancer by their 85th birthday this effects almost every country family at some point.
Add to that the effects of the drought; being lower country income (across the farming and town communities) people are not only more likely to experience financial difficulty but our ability to assist them declines since our fund raising efforts are almost exclusively country sourced.
Specifically, from 2018FY to 2019FY, our fundraising revenues declined by more than 7%, yet our client assistance increased by 5.4%. It is in these times of drought that our model needs to grow faster, not slower.
We do not address a single issue – drought adds to a pre-existing economic disadvantage for country people in the health system and our charity aims to level the playing field.
Our current 55 strong branch network runs throughout country NSW. We have thousands of volunteers; some 2700 of which are registered members, the remainder helping out as volunteers when required.
