Functional Capacity Assessments in Bathurst
We are a Sydney-based occupational therapy service that travels to Bathurst and the Central West for scheduled assessment visits. If you have been waiting months for an OT and a deadline is coming, that is usually the problem we are called in to solve.
We are not based in Bathurst, and we will not pretend otherwise
We are a Greater Sydney service. We do not have an office, a clinic or a therapist living in Bathurst. What we do have is a team that travels to the Central West for scheduled assessment visits, and can arrange a trip at shorter notice when something is genuinely urgent. If a local provider can see you sooner, take that appointment. We would rather tell you that than take a booking we are not the best fit for.
Where we are useful is the situation that comes up constantly in regional NSW: the waitlist is months long, a plan review or a review deadline is not, and the assessment has to happen. Being outside the region is occasionally an advantage too, where local services are stretched or already involved with the participant in another capacity.
What a visiting assessment actually looks like
Distance changes the shape of the assessment, so here is exactly how we run it rather than a general description that quietly assumes we live down the road.
We talk before anyone travels
A phone or video conversation first, to establish the goals, what evidence already exists and whether an FCA is even the right report. If it is not, we say so at this point, before anybody has spent money on travel.
We gather the paperwork remotely
Specialist letters, discharge summaries and previous allied health reports are collected and read in advance, so the visit is spent on what only a person in the room can assess.
One extended in-person assessment
Rather than several short appointments, the in-person work is compressed into a single longer visit at your home. We observe the actual routines, the environment and, where it matters, a task out in the community.
The support network, by phone or video
With your consent, family, carers, support workers and your treating team are spoken with separately, which does not require us to be in the room and means we are not rushing those conversations on the day.
Standardised tools during the visit
Where appropriate we use validated measures such as the WHODAS 2.0, the COPM, the Lawton IADL Scale, the Vineland-3 or the Pedi-CAT, administered in person so the results are properly obtained.
Follow-up by telehealth
If something needs clarifying after the visit, we do it by video rather than making you wait for the next trip.
One report, same standard
The report is written to exactly the standard we apply in Sydney, linking each recommendation to the evidence behind it. Travelling changes the logistics, not the quality of the assessment.
Read our full assessment methodology, including the evidence standard every recommendation is written to.
When a visiting service is the right call, and when it is not
Worth calling us
The local waitlist runs past your deadline. A plan review, an access request or an external review is dated. You need an independent assessor from outside the local network. A previous report was knocked back and you need a thorough one.
Probably not worth it
You need regular ongoing therapy rather than an assessment. A local OT can see you within your timeframe. You need someone who can return at short notice repeatedly. In those cases a local provider will serve you better and we will say so.
What travelling adds, and how we handle it
The assessment itself is charged by the hour, at the NDIS occupational therapy price of $193.99 per hour in 2026-27. Travel to the Central West is additional, and we quote it in writing before anything is booked, so there are no surprises on the invoice. If the travel cost makes the whole thing unreasonable for your plan, we will tell you.
NDIS rules on claimable provider travel differ by region and by plan, and they change. Your plan manager or support coordinator is the right person to confirm what your plan will and will not cover before you commit. See how OT is priced for the underlying rates.
How a regional assessment comes together
An illustrative example of the visiting model in practice.
Beating a plan review deadline in the Central West
This is a worked example, written to show how we would approach an assessment of this kind. It does not describe a real person or a real assessment. Funding outcomes depend on individual circumstances and are decided by the funder.
The situation
Consider a support coordinator contacting us about a participant in the Central West whose plan review is six weeks away. The nearest occupational therapist with capacity has quoted a wait of several months, and the existing plan was built on a report that is two years old and no longer describes the person’s situation.
What we would do
We would start with a video call to confirm an FCA is the right report and to identify what evidence already exists. In the fortnight before the visit we would collect and read the specialist correspondence and any previous allied health reports, so nothing has to be worked out on the day.
The in-person assessment would run across most of a day at the participant’s home, covering personal care, transfers, meal preparation, and a short task in the community. Standardised measures would be completed in the same visit. Afterwards, with consent, we would speak by phone with a family member and a support worker on separate days, which gives a fuller account than squeezing both into the visit would.
What the report would set out
Each recommendation traced back to what was observed or measured, delivered inside the review timeframe. The assessment is thorough not because we are nearby, but because the parts that do not require us to be in the room are done properly around the visit.
Visiting assessments in Bathurst: your questions
Are you based in Bathurst?
How quickly can you get here?
Is the assessment any less thorough because you travel?
What does the travel cost?
Would I be better off waiting for a local OT?
Do you assess children as well as adults?
Can the whole thing be done by telehealth instead?
Will the NDIS fund the assessment?
Ask about a visiting assessment in Bathurst
Tell us your deadline and your location and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, or whether you would be better served locally. Or call 1300 316 664.
A thorough assessment, even a long way from home
Talk to our team about a functional capacity assessment in Bathurst or the wider Central West. No obligation, and a straight answer either way.
Make a referral or call 1300 316 664