Georgie Somerset – RFDS new hangar opening (18 March)

0:00Welcome back to Rural Queensland today. Mount Isar and the Rural Flying Doctor Service, the synergy runs very deep. And this Friday, they open their new hanger. Official opening, Georgie Somerset, who is a huge part as the chair and obviously a big part of Rural Flying Doctor Service, joins me this morning for what is a significant, significant day this Friday in Mount Isar. Georgie, good morning and thank you so much for being with us. Good morning, Ben. I am very excited. It's such a great facility. This is something that's obviously taken some time and it's been a work in progress, but just how proud are you of the work that's gone in to get to this point? And just how critical is it that we have this hanger in Mount Isar? Oh, look, I'm really proud and I took the board up for a meeting there a couple of weeks ago and it was just great to spend some time with the staff. If people know that either the admin staff and the mental health team have actually been working out

1:02of near where the drove are used to be, new town. And then the flight staff and the nurses and doctors and so forth were working out of the, what I call the tin shed, the hanger next to the terminal. And so to have them all under one roof is also fantastic for them. But this is future proofing aeromedical services in general with Queensland. And I just think we are such a vital part, we're off-line-gotten services, as you say, synonymous with that part of the world, we started in Concurring 98 years ago. And we are, I just think that lives in the Northwest is safer because we are there. And this new, it really is so much more than just a hanger. I can't wait for you to see it when you're next to Mount Isar. Yeah. Because it's got amazing engineering hanger, the plane can come in under power, it's got a patient transfer facility, the ambulance is under cover. So when you think about all the, what you're dealing with, when you're dealing with people, sometimes not the greatest day,

2:03we've now got facility to the staff and the patient that will care for them in a way that they need to be cared for as well. There's been a lot go on there. The also amazing feat of the driver, which is the plane. And the relocation and restoration of it, which is pretty significant as well. That's been also a significant part of it. It's been a huge project. And the driver is installed mounted in the air so that people can see that as they're driving out of or into Mount Isar. And we will have a fantastic visitor information center, which our focus has been about the aeromedical facility that we will get a visitor information center developed over the next couple of years. So people can really understand why this sort of care is so critical. And the pilot fly about a million kilometers a year, the demand keeps growing. And the driver is sort of a very visual representation

3:07of where we've come from. And then people will be able to see where, you know, what care looks like now and where we're heading. You know, we also do remote consultations out of there. So telehealth and those sorts of things and providing different services. The mental health team, as I said, the dental van also heads up there. But this is a center, aeromedical center that will service this area for years to come. And that's what I think is important. There's a lot going on in that world at the moment. And raw flying doctors are the backbone of rural and regional Queensland. There is a new precinct being built out of Brisbane, which you'll see everybody all together. And you work in conjunction, obviously, with life light. But for raw flying doctors the giving day last week, those kind of days where we're raising awareness in the cities and trying to get more people understanding, just how important it is, is that our biggest challenge? Well, I think it's just consistently.

4:07We have to keep talking about it. And look, I'm really grateful for all the support we've had. We've had a lot of donors who know how important we are and particularly in the resource sector. So you say there's a lot happening up there. There absolutely is. So both the federal and state government have contributed to this aeromedical facility, but so have those resource companies through individual donations from companies that also the resources fund. And I think they understand it. But as you say, until you're a traveler in the West, until you actually live in regional Queensland, you don't always understand how critical these services are. So for people like you to be in King George Square and sharing your story and talking on urban media about what the raw fine doctor service does, just continually raises the awareness. It's not just a TV show. It is actually about life and death. It is actually about creating regions where people feel safe to live because they know they've got someone they can call when things aren't great. It means we have medical chests on stations and in communities and we can support people.

5:09But it also means we've got staff who live in MADISA or regularly fire photo MADISA who understand the communities in the sitting with the staff the other night having dinner in the hangar and just hearing how committed they are to their communities and asking them where they'd been that day and where they're heading to the next day. And they just talk with, to be honest, real love for their communities and they actually a real joy that they get to serve with the raw fine doctor service but the people who live out there. And that I think is what we often underestimate is how much our staff are just so committed to the work they do and to the region that they serve. And that's such a true statement. Can I ask you this, when you look at it now and Friday will be significant. Obviously that's the day the official ribbon gets carted and a lot of dignitaries. But is there a need for more people to get on board? Ah, like when you look at our health system we've got some real challenges and Tim Nichols knows it and we've talked about it a lot.

6:10But to those morph into the RFDS as well, is there demand to try and get more pilots look for more nurses, look for more critical doctors? Yeah, absolutely. So staff and pipelines and creating that and we've got, you know, I hope to defunct in the other night for International Women's Day where Lynn Davies from the Delara Foundation spoke and she's been funding midwifery scholarships. So, you know, they're worth about $25,000 each. So for those young women to have done their midwifery and be able to become a flight nurse is a really significant career advancement. It is, look, there's enormous pressure and, you know, this week it's fuel because we have a contract with both the federal government and the state government through Federation as do other sections of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. But cost to do increase, you know, supply chains, we all know that supply chains have been under pressure since COVID. Parts for airplanes are no different to that. So we have those increasing pressures and we do have to work through them

7:11and it's not simple, it's not straightforward and the health system is complex. So we're constantly dealing with those pressures. So the support of philanthropy and fundraising means that not only are we able to deliver that the core services, but we actually get to do the things that I think people deserve to receive in the communities that they live and work and travel in as well. Yeah, it's such a, it's such a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful organisation. This Friday will be significant, the opening of the hangar, the drove a plane that has been restored that sits out in front. It is just a wonderful, wonderful organisation and I hope Friday goes well and Mount Iser is better for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Georgie Somerset, thanks for talking. We really appreciate your time this morning. Thanks Ben, can't wait to be in Mount Iser Friday morning. Good on you. We're gonna take a break, come back. Plenty more to get through. This is Rural Queensland today.