Patient Assistance Travel Scheme

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Apply for patient assistance travel scheme

Applications for PATS must be submitted by an authorised, registered healthcare provider.

This includes:

general practitioners (GP) working in private practices, community health centres, or clinics
approved nurse managers, practitioners and clinical staff working in rural and remote communities
dental practitioners - referring patients for dental fitness or trauma.

Referral to an NT specialist

Your referral must be:

current
completed by an authorised, registered healthcare provider, such as:
- a general or dental practitioner
- an approved remote nurse manager or practitioner

The referral must be to the:

nearest eligible specialist medical service in the NT. This may be:
- one of the NT public hospitals
- a visiting specialist
- a service provided through Telehealth.

Referral to an interstate specialist

To be eligible for PATS assistance, an interstate referral must be made by a public specialist based in the NT.

The specialist must justify why you need treatment outside of the NT.

PATS assistance is not available if you are referred directly to an interstate specialist without first being assessed by a public NT specialist.

If you attend an NT specialist appointment and are advised that further treatment is not available in the NT, you may be referred to a visiting specialist or an interstate specialist service.

Arranging travel

A patient travel officer will usually book your travel and accommodation. However, you can choose to make your own travel arrangements and claim reimbursement after your treatment and travel is completed.

If you arrange your own travel, you must:

pay all travel related costs upfront
provide proof of payment when claiming reimbursement from the Patient Travel Office.

You can't claim reimbursement for flights or accommodation paid for using frequent flyer points or any other loyalty points, including employment benefit schemes.