RFDS Victoria is always looking for opportunities to review and improve how we deliver care across regional and rural Victoria.
Our survey, sent annually to primary health and community transport clients, puts our impact into perspective to see more than just how many appointments we fill.
The survey results show us how people feel about the service we have provided, what their experiences have been when engaging with us, how they would rate their own physical and mental health after receiving care from the Flying Doctor, and if their social connection has improved with our services.
This data is incredibly valuable for multiple teams within RFDS and helps us know what to keep doing and what to do differently.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to tell us about their experience with and ideas for RFDS Victoria Primary Health Care and Community Transport in this year’s survey. Pleasingly, we had close to 550 responses from across Victoria. Our team truly values your contribution.
Top Results
We are incredibly proud to share an overwhelmingly positive response to the work of RFDS Victoria through the services of both our Primary Health Care and Community Transport teams.
Our goal is to decrease preventable health conditions, to enhance recovery, to decrease mental ill health and reduce social isolation.
We found that many of our health care clients reported that the RFDS helped them achieve better mental and physical health to a great or very great extent.
Our community transport clients recorded an incredibly encouraging result for overcoming social isolation. 79% of clients reported feeling better connected with their own communities as a result of the Flying Doctor Community Transport service.
Primary Health Care and Community Transport clients repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the increased access to high quality health care and wellbeing services, especially relating to distance, affordability/costs, and continuity of care. Specifically, 87% of primary health clients told us that the Flying Doctor made it easier for them to access health care.
Where To Next
Clients from across the primary and allied health care services we provide saw great opportunities to increase the frequency of existing services. This includes access to counsellors, psychologists, psychiatrists, GPs, dental services, and specialists.
Other suggestions included: more promotion of Flying Doctor services to increase community awareness of what’s available; improving the process for clients to book, change and cancel appointments; and more health education, advice and information. We welcome this and other feedback, and are looking forward to using it to improve the services we provide into the future.
RFDS Victoria would like to highlight our appreciation to the staff who deliver high quality care across remote and rural Victoria and the continuous support from our local partners across the regions. Our impact can only be achieved through their hard work.
