Royal Flying Doctor Service takes off with $500 million SA contract
The Malinauskas Government has signed a long-term contract worth half a billion dollars to expand the Royal Flying Doctor Service SA/NT.
The government said today that the $509.4 million, 10-year contract would be funded from the SA Health budget and that RFDS aircraft would carry state government branding.
The funding will give the RFDS the capacity to operate an extra two aircraft at Adelaide Airport, bringing its daily service capacity to four aircraft during the day and three overnight.
A previous contract in place for 15 years saw a capacity of three aircraft during the day and two at night.
There will now be a dedicated emergency response aircraft in the RFDS fleet for the first time.
The new contract will also see RFDS frontline staff increase by 23.4 full-time equivalent employees, including nurses, pilots, engineers, and operations communications staff.
The RFDS 2024 annual report said the service had 228 full-time staff, including two medical practitioners, 14 flight nurses, and 52 pilots.
Today’s announcement also included the 24/7 stationing of two dedicated nurses at the Adelaide Patient Transfer Facility, with RFDS transferring around 20 patients a day from regional hospitals to metropolitan areas across South Australia and the Northern Territory.
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RFDS chairman Peter de Cure said the contract would allow the service to plan long-term. Photo: suppliedRFDS chairman Peter de Cure said the group would be “going to market for staff immediately” and expected them to begin within six weeks.
“Everywhere we work today there is a war for talent, but it’s never less than in healthcare and aviation,” he said.
“To be able to have long-term contracts and certainty allows us to invest in those people, invest in their training and create a positive work environment.”
De Cure said the contract represents around 30 to 35 per cent of the RFDS’ efforts, alongside contracts with the Commonwealth Government and other partnerships.
The contract comes with a new KPI requirement for RFDS aircraft to be in the air within 20 minutes of being assigned an emergency job, more than half the previous target of 45 minutes.
The 20-minute target applies to Priority 1 and 2 regional fixed wing retrievals and Inter Hospital Transfers contracted to the RFDS, managed by the SA Ambulance Service (SAAS).
SAAS CEO Rob Elliott said the contract would “streamline our operations, allowing inter-hospital transfer and retrieval services to function more efficiently”.
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SAAS CEO Rob Elliott. Photo: supplied“Our SAAS MedSTAR retrieval clinicians, working closely with the RFDS, complete around five fixed wing missions, and coordinate 15-20 RFDS inter-hospital transfers each day,” Elliott said.
New KPIs will also apply to aircraft availability, case volumes and maintenance, with the inclusion of another contract and dedicated manager to focus on ensuring targets are met.
The RFDS SA/NT was founded in 1939, delivering healthcare services to over 56,000 people annually across four aeromedical bases in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin, and Port Augusta, and three remote primary healthcare facilities located in outback South Australia.
De Cure said the new agreement would bring the group’s partnership with the state government to “almost 40 years of collaboration and service”.
“Within this agreement and outside of it, the RFDS will continue to bring together more than $100 million of fundraising dollars for South Australia over the next decade, investing in regional infrastructure and healthcare technologies that support the communities we collectively serve,” de Cure said.
Photo: supplied“The signing of this contract, with its increased KPIs and increased investment, allows the RFDS to leverage our public support and our fundraising efforts.”
The RFDS reported a total fundraising income of $18.1 million in its 2024 financial year report, which included $10.4 million of donations and sponsorships.
Health Minister Chris Picton said the additions under the contract would “ultimately help faster patient flow and clearing up our hospitals for the patients who need it”.
“At any one time, [there are] hundreds of regional patients in our metro hospitals that need to come to Adelaide for that high-level care,” he said.
“We work in partnership with RFDS to bring those patients to Adelaide, and then ultimately to bring them back to regional hospitals as well.”
