Flying doctors in Queensland carried more patients and flew more with an average of 223 cases a day in the last 12 months.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Queensland says it recorded more than 81,000 cases statewide in the 2025-26 financial year.
It reported an extra 947 patients (up 7.28% on the previous year) flew with them as their 26 medical aircraft covered an extra 395,240 kilometres which led to an extra 1000 flying hours.
The service also reports that primary health care had a ‘significant’ year with 4716 clinics at around 30 locations for more than 22,000 consultations in areas ranging from south-west locations like Eulo to central Queensland communities such as Dajarra and as far north as Lockhart River.
SERVICES: RFDS Qld provides aeromedical, primary health care (PHC), mobile dental, mental health and telehealth consultations statewide.
FLYING OUT BACK OF URBAN CENTRES
RFDS Qld CEO Meredith Staib paid tribute to his staff as they travelled to some of the state’s most remote locations.
“The service exists to serve those who simply don’t have access to the type of medical care taken for granted in larger rural centres and cities,” she says.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in the number of patients cared for by our teams and the distances our aircraft have had to travel to get them the help they need.
“These results highlight the vital work our team do and why we continue to provide the finest care to the furthest corners.”
The Queensland branch operates 26 King Air aircraft that flew almost nine million kilometres last year and carried 13,949 patients across the state.
The RFDS says there is growing demand for their services in remote and isolated communities.
It also spelt out patient flight numbers for the financial year base by base.
Their Rockhampton base proved the busiest with 2893 flights followed by Brisbane on 2519. Other bases are: Bundaberg (2143), Cairns (1428), Charleville (1466), Mount Isa (1154) and Townsville (2346).
EARLIER RFDS NEWS:
