The Flying Obstetric and Gynaecology Service in rural Queensland: its first two years.

OBJECTIVE

To present a report of the first two years of the Queensland Flying Obstetric and Gynaecology (FOG) Service which commenced operation in July 1988, and to assess the impact of the service on rural Queensland.

DESIGN

Data were collected retrospectively for the surgical treatment and consultations provided by the FOG Service in its first two years, and for the obstetric and gynaecological surgery performed at Alpha Hospital, a typical rural hospital, before and after the inception of the service.

SETTING

The service provides specialist routine and emergency care for the women of 24 western Queensland towns scattered over approximately three-quarters of the area of the State.

RESULTS

In the first two years of operation of the service, the team performed 4985 consultations, 1127 colposcopies, 1793 operations, 1143 ultrasound scans, answered 100 emergency calls and flew 318,650 km, equivalent to eight times around the world. In the seven years before the FOG Service began, only 17 gynaecological operations were performed at Alpha Hospital; in the first two years of the service the team performed 47 operations in this town.

CONCLUSIONS

The FOG Service has made a very significant impact on the delivery of specialist services to the women of outback Queensland, and has also provided continuing education opportunities and professional support for remotely placed rural medical and nursing staff. The service has proved its worth in Queensland, and provides a model for the development of similar services in other large States of Australia.