Remote Consultations

RFDS medical practitioners provide a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week telephone and radio medical consultation service to people living, working or travelling in remote and rural Australia. Over 85,000 consultations are conducted nationally each year. Advice is given to rural doctors, remote area nurses, allied health staff, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and patients, their carers and family members. 

Almost all remote consultations are conducted over the phone: however, radio is still used when phone contact is not available. 

Other RFDS health professionals (e.g. nurses and allied health professionals) are available for follow-up consultations by telephone when in the Base office.

Many health facilities in rural and remote Australia have videoconferencing, which continues to be integrated, along with other telehealth technologies, into rural and remote health service delivery.