In my opinion, getting patients' flights to Kalgoorlie via PATS is by far the most difficult of any PATS office. I believe patients who have had total hip and knee replacements are told they need to take the train or bus home.
I feel it is a joke to think someone who is considered a high falls risk, on strong analgesia and using crutches can safely use the bathroom on a moving vehicle. Only after contacting the office multiple times with an explanation of this for every patient that we discharge does a PATS flight get approved (and not for every case as some people have their cars here having driven the 6 hours as they were refused a flight pre-op).
In my opinion, this is discriminatory care as no other PATS office is this difficult and therefore patients who are in Kalgoorlie are offered a substandard service due purely to their regional location. Please review processes and accept that every patient who has had a joint replacement is high risk for DVT and falls and deserves a flight home, not an unsteady extended ride on a bus or train.
"Processes"
About: Patient Assisted Travel Scheme - WACHS Goldfields Patient Assisted Travel Scheme - WACHS Goldfields Kalgoorlie 6430
Posted by Fair service for all (as ),
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