Doctors Visit Patients at Home Due to Lack of Taxis

By Philippe Perez

ABC Goulburn Murray

Topic: Health

Wednesday, 1 July 2026, at 6:32 am

Jodi Scholz says it's hard to get to medical appointments in rural towns without taxis.

In short:

Doctors and patients in Beechworth want more transport options for medical appointments.

The town's only taxi service closed 18 months ago, and transport options are limited.

What's next?

Indigo Shire is still looking for a new taxi service for the town.

Jodi Scholz, 74, used to run a small farm near Beechworth.

She said it was a nice life.

They had horses and cattle, and managed them well.

But her partner got sick and died two years ago.

Jodi was left alone to manage the 40-acre property.

Now, she lives in a nursing home where she used to work as a nurse.

Before that, she relied on friends or volunteers to drive her to town for medical treatment.

Jodi had to rely on friends and volunteers to get to medical appointments.

She also used a local taxi service until it closed.

The community car was very busy, so Jodi relied on carers and a friend who drove from Wangaratta.

There are concerns for patients in hot weather.

Dr Christie Rodda is Jodi's doctor and has worked in Beechworth for 16 years.

Dr Rodda said the lack of taxis and public transport left many patients without a reliable way to get to appointments.

Dr Rodda visits Jodi at home because she's concerned about her chronic illness, especially in extreme weather.

Dr Rodda says patients who don't drive can miss important appointments.

The Victorian Patient Transport Access Scheme is hard to navigate and underfunded.

How can patients navigate the complex health system funded by different levels of government?

Funding complexity is a problem across states.

Kirinari Community Services provides door-to-door transport to help people visit their doctor or hospital.

They also give out taxi vouchers.

The service makes 155,000 trips per year, but funding is different in each state and hard to navigate.

Paul Vaccaro from Kirinari Community Services says finding workers to transport patients can be challenging.

They try to advocate for flexibility in funding programs because it takes more than one funding stream to make regional Australia work.

Mr Vaccaro said they rely on volunteers at times.

It's hard to find casual workers to provide transport services on demand.

In north-east Victoria, community transport providers can support residents to access medical appointments.

Many people in remote Australia have no access to primary healthcare services within an hour's drive of their homes.

Regional communities are unhappy, and it's adding to the cost of living.

There's a gap in taxi services.

The Indigo Shire Council is exploring public transport options to support GP and health appointment visits.

A local taxi service stopped operating in Beechworth 18 months ago.

The council reached out to taxi companies in nearby towns to see if they could provide services to Beechworth.

So far, they've said it's not possible.

Last year, they supported a taxi operator to trial services, but it didn't continue.

A Victorian Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said they welcome discussions with stakeholders.

They work closely with rural and regional councils to support transport projects.

Wednesday, 1 July 2026, at 6:32 am

Wednesday, 1 July 2026, at 11:14 am

See more ABC coverage in your search results

Promotion

Praticar Escuta

Praticar Escuta