The collaboration will see the GPs4RuralDocs program continue throughout rural and remote parts of Queensland.
The Rural Doctors Foundation has struck a partnership with Angel Flight Australia to ensure the GPs4RuralDocs program can continue.
Angel Flight Australia will provide the flights under their “Rural Medi Flights” service, which was officially launched in earlier this year despite operating since late 2022.
“From 2021-2022, we saw an 80% increase in demand for health practitioners requiring reliable, on demand air transport to rural and remote areas,” said Angel Flight CEO Marjorie Pagani.
“We are committing to improving health care access for rural people and by providing reliable, on demand air transport for health practitioners to and from the bush, we are contributing to a more sustainable health care model for rural communities.”
The GPs4RuralDocs initiative launched in May this year, giving health practitioners like doctors, nurses and allied health professionals the opportunity to receive continuous care from a visiting, independent GP with experience in both mental health and caring for healthcare practitioners. The regular, face-to-face visits are supplemented by telehealth consultations.
Rural Doctors Foundation CEO Fran Avon said the partnership with Angel Flight would be a key part of the foundation’s mission to support Australia’s rural communities – and the healthcare workers who treat them – where the closest doctor may be hundreds of kilometres away.
“The more time we can spend in each of these towns, the more health practitioners our Treating GP can see. To achieve this, a fly-in and fly-out model is the most efficient way to do it, which is why we’re thrilled to have Angel Flight on board,” she told media.
Rural Doctor’s Foundation chair Amanda Roser hoped the new partnership would not only allow the GPs4RuralDocs program to continue, but to expand over the coming years.
“We had amazing feedback from the previous clinics we held in Quilpie, Charleville and Cunnamulla. We know how much it means to the incredible health practitioners living and working in these communities – and we’re determined to continue supporting them as best we can,” she said.
Speaking to our sister publication The Medical Republic after the launch of the GPs4RuralDocs program earlier this year, Charleville GP Dr Katie Chang said the service would significantly cut down travel times and prevent her from delaying making an appointment until it lined up with her holidays.
“I travelled three hours to see my GP in Roma and I would pretty much need a day off work to do that, because you can’t do it on the weekend,” she said.
The Rural Doctors Foundation reports the seven million Australians who live in rural, regional, and remote areas are facing “critical health workforce shortages”, with the 2.5 FTE doctors per 1000 people in rural and remote areas well short of the 4.1/1000 figure in rural areas.