Meals on Wheels volunteers in Dubbo, Trangie and Narromine respond to more frequent urgent requests from isolated elderly to get to their doctor's appointments, as well as bringing them hot meals.
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More than half of 350 elderly from those three towns provided with hot or frozen meals daily delivered to their homes have been on the transport assistance list because they are isolated from relatives or carers, Peter English, Meals on Wheels service manager said.
The charity's volunteers are provided a $10 petrol voucher per trip to transport seniors to medical appointments, go to shops, and visit friends as part of their support services but the bulk of requests are to see doctors there must be an easing of guidelines on community transport, Mr English said.
Meals on Wheels is a charity service funded by the federal government to provide meals and transport while the community transport scheme for the elderly with mobility problems, people with disability and those on low income are provided by the NSW transport department.
Mr English said "some relaxation of some guidelines [on transporting isolated seniors] might help" so that they can help out seniors to see doctors and specialists, particularly on call-outs during after hours and weekends.
When volunteers are not available, Mr English said, the Radio Taxi Service "help us provide transport to a lot of our isolated elderly clients."
One of the charity's volunteers, David Ringland has bravely spoken out on the situation during the Dubbo visit of NSW regional health minister Bronnie Taylor who announced a $149.5 million funding to expand the Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme as part of the new budget.
Mr Ringland told Ms Taylor "there are many people we deliver meals to who need medical treatment and they have no other means to get to their appointments".
"We don't have enough volunteers all the time to do that...if charity volunteers can be recompensed to transport them to GPs and medical centres [it would help]", Mr Ringland said.
Ms Taylor responded to Mr Ringland's question by saying she was interested in hearing issues from volunteers in towns she visits because it helped her "shape the policies" and she would be "happy to look at it in terms of volunteering".
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The charity provides transport between 9 am to 3 pm Monday to Friday only thus after-hours and weekend requests are provided by available volunteers or staff and taxis, Mr English said.
Meals' delivery runs in Dubbo are six times daily, Monday to Friday, while one daily meal runs each for Narromine and Trangie.
"At least 40 to 50 percent of our services are transporting elderly who are experiencing isolation and their mental health and confidence have been declining as a result so we need to be proactive," Mr English said.
"Transporting them is an important link to their recovery...we also need more volunteers because it requires a lot of manpower [availability] and we are at capacity."
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