I spent two years ferrying my wife to hospital by car at least once a week. That was for breast cancer; chemo, surgery, radiation therapy, reconstruction, the lot. I think I can therefore speak with a little authority on this subject.
The car trip was three hours plus each way. We were lucky in that various children had spare rooms and we could afford hotels when necessary. At one stage we lived in an apartment for a month.
The overall time involved - for us was usually three days per appointment because specialists appointments cannot always fit your travel schedule. It’s one day down, then a day with the doctors and back the following day, we occasionally managed it in two days because one was not enough - six hours driving plus doctors plus peak hour traffic is a nightmare.
For Two years this was pretty much a full time job - and we were only 250kms, about three hours from Melbourne. There was barely time to look after the property between visits.
For someone living more than four hours drive away, without the financial resources we had, say trying to hold down a job or run a business, services like Angel Flight at least make treatment possible. I often wonder if the rural suicide epidemic is in part caused by the near impossibility of getting treatment, both medical and psychiatric in the bush.
The ATSB in full Marie Antoinette mode, reckons that regular airline services are a sufficient substitute, well they aren’t. Your turn around time at a city airport is at least three hours leaving and probably at least two hours arriving, plus taxis since you left your car at home, plus lots and lots of accommodation because the idea that RPT schedules and doctors appointments are ever going to synchronise is laughable. Then there is the airfare itself, perhaps airport parking, the drive to and from your nearest airport (which might also be three hours from home) not to mention the anxiety about trying to get tickets on what might be a full aircraft or changing flights at the last minute due to medical complications, not to mention the possibility of requiring treatment or special services. And this all assumes your patient is fully ambulatory to handle those half a km walks to arrival and departure. So no, the ATSB is just plain wrong.
As for “Cowboys” Angel Flight said it best; CASA trained and licensed each pilot involved and certified their aircraft. If Angel Flights are conducted by unsafe cowboys, then so is every private flight.