The Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation's Marrabinya program is designed to help Indigenous people have better access to specialised healthcare.

When a patient is diagnosed with chronic disease and do not have a specialist to consult in their area, they reach out Marrabinya care link workers for help.

Workers then register referrals for specialists and arrange for patients to visit a doctor. They arrange fuel, accommodation and appointments for patients, while also covering the fees for them.

Donna Jeffries, Manager of Marrabinya in Dubbo, said they had been able to support more than 4,000 Aboriginal people with a diagnosed chronic disease.

"Services were organised within 24 hours of receiving the referral, and absolutely no patient had to be placed on a waiting list since the Marrabinya program has been implemented," Ms Jeffries said.

Marrabinya supports Indigenous people with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, chronic respiratory disease and liver disease.

The program has eight link workers that look after clients from remote and rural communities. There is a worker each in regional centre; Dubbo (includes Wellington and Warren), Cowra, Forbes, Coonamble, Bourke, Brewarrina, and two in Bathurst.

The Marrabinya had been contracted by the Commonwealth to implement an 'Integrated Team Care (ITC) program' by Western NSW PHN. However, this contract will now be offered to Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS) instead. There are 15 AMSs within the WNSW PHN region.

Under the new ITC program, AMSs will have the option to contract other organisations to deliver service on their behalf.

Ms Jeffries said this new program would be a problem for Indigenous patients as it wouldn't allow services to be delivered as efficiently.

"As soon as you split the total ITC budget between 15 or more AMSs, you're going to lose your capability to provide service... only a small number of patients will receive a service and there will be a very lengthy waiting list," she said.

A statement from Andrew Coe, chief executive officer of WNSW PHN, said the decision to defund had been taken following region-wide stakeholder and community consultations between July 2021 and February 2022.

The consultations were carried out by an external facilitator, and details of which community organisations were consulted are not clear.

It was stated that the region's Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS), and other key stakeholders had been involved in the co-design of the new program.

"The program has been designed in response to specific community requirements... allowing for localised approaches to service delivery and care coordination," the statement read.

Mr Coe said the new program had the potential to "make a massive difference to the wellbeing of local Indigenous people."

The revised ITC program will be fully operational from January 1, 2023.