Getting to a Medical Appointment Without a Car

Book the transport first, then the appointment

Most appointment days come apart because the appointment was booked first and the transport was arranged around it. Reverse the order. Find out what can actually get you there on a Tuesday morning, then ask the clinic for a time that fits it.

This sounds fussy until the first time a wheelchair accessible taxi cannot be found for a 9am slot, or a community transport run only goes out on Wednesdays. The transport is the constraint. The appointment time is the flexible part, and receptionists are used to being asked.

Know which of the four options is yours

A support worker driving you. Common for regular appointments, and the simplest to arrange when in-home support is already in place. The time in the car is support time, and the kilometres may be charged as provider travel, so ask how both are recorded before the first trip.

Public transport, on a route you have practised. Slower on paper, but reliable, and it does not need booking. A route learned once with somebody alongside is a route you keep. Our guide to getting around south west Sydney without a car covers how the trains and buses actually connect out here.

Taxis, including wheelchair accessible ones. In New South Wales the Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme subsidises part of the fare for people who meet its eligibility rules. Accessible taxis are a small fleet, so book ahead and book the return leg too.

Community transport. Local not-for-profit services run door to door trips, often on set days for medical appointments. They are cheap and gentle and they fill up, so ring at the start of the month rather than the week.

Where the NDIS money sits, and where it does not

Two separate things get funded and people mix them up. Getting the person there can be funded as transport in a plan. The worker's time going with them is support, not transport. Ask which of the two you are being quoted for, because a quote that covers one and not the other is how a bill surprises you. We set the categories out in what NDIS transport funding covers.

Appointments themselves are health, not NDIS. The scheme does not pay for the doctor, and it is not meant to. What it can support is the getting there and the being helped while you are there.

The three things that go wrong

The return trip. Everyone books the trip out. An appointment that runs forty minutes over leaves somebody sitting in a waiting room with no way home. Book the return with a buffer, or agree who is on call.

The paperwork nobody brought. Referral, Medicare card, medication list, the plan number if the clinic asks. Put them in one envelope that lives with the appointment, not in a memory.

The bit after. A blood test, a script to fill, a follow-up to make. Assume there is a second errand and build twenty minutes in, because the alternative is a whole second trip next week.

Make the first one a template

Write down what worked the first time: the route, how long the door to door leg took, which taxi company answered, the receptionist's name, the times of day that were quiet. Appointments repeat, and the second one should cost you a phone call rather than a fortnight of arranging.

For the people we support, that note usually lives with the household routine so any worker on shift can follow it. If you are building it for a family member, keep it somewhere that is not only in your own head. That is the whole difference between a system and a habit.

Frequently asked questions

Can a support worker take me to the doctor?

Yes, and it is one of the more common in-home supports. The worker's time is support time and the travel may be charged separately as provider travel. Ask your provider to explain how both appear on an invoice before the first trip, so a regular appointment does not turn into a surprise each fortnight.

Does the NDIS pay for taxis to appointments?

Transport can be funded in a plan, though how much and in what form depends on the plan itself. It is separate from the health appointment, which the NDIS does not fund. In New South Wales the Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme may also reduce the fare for people who meet its eligibility rules.

How far ahead should I book a wheelchair accessible taxi?

As far ahead as the operator allows, and book the return leg at the same time. Accessible vehicles are a small part of any fleet, and school and peak times are the hardest. If the trip is regular, ask whether a standing booking is possible rather than ringing every week.

What if there is no community transport where we live?

Ask the clinic whether it runs telehealth for follow-ups, which removes the trip entirely for some appointments. Then ask a local council or a support coordinator what exists nearby, because these services are local and patchy and the name changes from one area to the next.