Group member Don Howe has been providing the council with information on the challenges facing country people finding somewhere reasonably priced, adequate and convenient to stay when undergoing treatment in the big smoke.

Yesterday the council acknowledged that some were “sleeping in car parks” or running into debt in order to obtain necessary and life-saving medical attention.

Hospital “lodges” providing subsidised accommodation were nowhere near able to meet demand and the State Government’s Isolated Patient Transport and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS) payments inadequate, it said.

The council, that co-manages two accommodation lodges at separate Sydney hospitals and co-owns another in Wagga Wagga, is lobbying for change.

In the interim it is offering help to patients who can call 131 120, while suggesting the planned establishment of radiotherapy services and patient accommodation in Orange may ease the strain.

The Vera Adderley Building contains Coulter House, a self-care hostel for people from the country forced by illness to make the trek to Sydney.

Yesterday afternoon the complex, also housing medical staff, was scheduled to bee shutdown after a diagnosis of “concrete cancer”.

Duty MLC for Dubbo Duncan Gay responded to the dislocating of 180 people by calling on the Government to address the issue of accommodation for country people attending Sydney hospitals as “a matter of urgency”.

Mr Howe, whose first reaction to the closure was “thank God”, also wants to know what will replace the building reported to be lacking “structural integrity”.

Gillian Batt, director of cancer information and support services for the council, said hospital lodges tended to accept the IPTAAS rate of $33 per night for a single claimant or $46 for a couple.

“But there’s no where else in Sydney where you can stay for that amount,” she said.

“We have done a review of patient accommodation across the State. There are some recommendations that we will be taking forward.”

kim.bartley@ruralpress.com