Table 2.

Selected quotations relating to each discussion topic or theme identified.

Topic/Theme	Quote number	Quotation	Profession of cited quotation
Factors guiding decisions	1	We just follow state‐wide guidelines on who should be accepted in a [subacute ambulatory care service] program.	Rehabilitation Coordinator
	2	[The decision is] sometimes evidence‐based, but then they really also can be really practical, like as in do you work full time?	Physiotherapist
	3	It's really useful for [patients] to have multidisciplinary care. It's easy when there is a structure but not that easy when you are outside of an organised structure.	Neurologist
Keeping abreast of information	4	It's such a disservice if you're not aware of what the research evidence is and what the options are – then, you know, patients missed out.	Physiotherapist
	5	I think clients themselves have the best information. They are the ones that do a lot of the legwork in finding those services and the supports.	Speech Pathologist
Perceived barriers and enablers for gaining access to rehabilitation services
1. Defining ‘Rehabilitation’	6	It's the question I get the most, ‘What do we need to do post‐surgery? You know do I go home, do I have rehab at home, do I go into inpatient rehab, do I do outpatient rehab?’ There is a lot of confusion about what each of these options mean.	Surgeon
	7	There is a lack of understanding of benefits of plain exercise and/or the common‐denominator parts of what rehab entails…people could just do it themselves.	Medical oncologist
	8	I don't think you can underestimate word of mouth, of that influencing people's opinions. They'd rather go to see [X clinician] if Gladys next door said actually, ‘Oh she's really nice!’ Like they will make choices based on that kind of stuff.	Physiotherapist
2. Information on access to services and patient health data	9	…I'm still trying to get a grasp of what's available locally…I mean while websites can help, sometimes they're not localised enough for the patient's needs.	Surgeon
	10	You make that referral, but you don't know that if the person is going to be waiting 3 months to have that referral screened.	Rehabilitation physician
	11	Data about rehab beds and wait times in a digestible format, easily accessible at the right time. Otherwise, you don't know, and it's an awful uncertainty for patients and referring clinicians. There needs to be more predicting and pre‐planning moves to rehab. Work through the temporal disconnect.	Neurosurgeon
	12	Unfortunately, even when you refer them you don't get any feedback, as in how they're going, should we do anything else? That seems to be very dependent on the service, and then you get the patient back afterwards, and then they tell you whether it was beneficial or not.	Rehabilitation physician
3. The system does not expect patient diversity	13	Everyone's working Monday to Friday, nine to five, and everyone who needs your services also Monday to Friday nine to five. This is part of the broken system and part of the rehab options that becomes why people don't get the rehab they need.	Exercise physiologist
	14	Lack of flexible or info tailored to people with real‐life problems means people feel like they can't do what's recommended.	Exercise physiologist
	15	… they increase accessibility for people who already had access, and they decrease [access] for people what were already marginalised…often they might get a little more isolated and find it even harder to navigate and find what they need.	Rehabilitation research scientist
	16	… directly asking [patients], I think a lot of it is just left assumed or unsaid and I think actively asking the question “Would they like services, Would they like an interpreter? Would they like a liaison officer?” that goes a long way… what I find is a lot of multicultural groups wouldn't necessarily speak up for themselves.	Surgeon