麦当劳叔叔慈善事业家

2023年6月12日

你不允许下载,保存这张图片或电子邮件。访问图像画廊购买图像。国家旅行援助方案并没有涵盖所有癌症患者的成本。资料照片:盖蒂图片社一些癌症患者在离家旅行保健费用正在艰难的决定没有治疗。和卫生机构已经承认变化是必要的。据一位病人的倡导者,全国旅行援助计划(NTA)——补贴旅行专家预约或治疗——是资金不足,过于复杂。癌症协会首席执行官露西埃尔伍德说关键的但尼丁的放射肿瘤学家短缺意味着许多病人在奥塔哥和南国别无选择前往基督城接受治疗。一些缓和病人权衡延长生命的治疗的前景有花宝贵的时间远离家人,而其他人都在努力维持生计。“我们知道一些家庭来说,这是影响他们的治疗决定。”The National Travel Assistance Scheme did not cover all costs, rates had been eroded by inflation and it was retrospective, taking up to eight weeks to reimburse patients, she said. "Only getting 27 cents per kilometre for driving, rather than closer to an IRD rate of 81 cents could be the difference of taking up that service for some families." Lucy Elwood. Photo: Supplied It was also complicated to apply. Patients had to fill in multiple forms for different regions, and eligibility criteria were too narrow, Elwood said. Adults could only claim if they had to travel more than 350km, had visited a specialist 22 times in two months or travelled 100km six times in six months. All that on top of being ill. "If someone lives in the Wairarapa, they cannot drive to and from hospital [in Wellington] that day if they're also having intense hospital treatment," said Elwood. "It's just impractical." One Wellington cancer patient recently ended up hundreds of dollars out of pocket when his treatment was rescheduled after he had already travelled to Auckland to receive it. Because the Cancer Society accommodation was full the next week, he had to pay more than $300, plus another $160 for shuttle transfers for him and his support person. He was grateful to have his flights and transport to and from Auckland Airport covered, but said it could be exhausting dealing with the funding agency, often involving multiple phone calls and emails. "It's dealing with a lot of people who are not able to look after themselves all that well and so it needs that little extra bit of professionalism and sort of 'bedside manner' with some to make it work well and ensure they're getting the service that they need." The Cancer Society, Ronald McDonald House Charities and other not-for-profits collectively claim less than $10 million a year on patients' behalf, using the same inefficient and cumbersome claims process. Ronald McDonald chief executive Wayne Howett said the funding shortfall amounted to millions of dollars, and the organisation was facing the bleak prospect of having to choose which families to support. "We can't just keep providing all the services we provide on the National Travel Assistance for $88.89 a night plus GST for a family of four. If you can find accommodation in Auckland at that price, please let me know." In a written response to RNZ, a Te Whatu Ora spokesperson agreed there was "an urgent need" to review the National Travel Assistance Scheme to ensure equitable access to health services. However, the transition from a system based on 20 district health boards, with variations in access to care, would take time, he said. "We recognise we need to implement positive and effective change as soon as possible but it is a significant undertaking that we need to get it right. "The programme of work will identify the steps needed to improve the NTA scheme. The costs to achieve improvement are not yet known."