For many Australians living in regional and remote Queensland, accessing healthcare isn’t as simple as visiting a GP or pharmacy. It can mean hours of travel, being cut off by weather, or making difficult decisions about when to seek care.

For Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) (Queensland Section) Medical Chest Service Manager Elizabeth Doran, these realities are at the heart of a new research project co-funded through EMF’s Queensland Research Program and Trauma Care Program. The research aims to better understand and measure the impact of one of Australia’s most unique healthcare services: the RFDS Medical Chest Program.

Ms Doran, an emergency medicine pharmacist, has spent much of her career working in busy metropolitan emergency departments. It was her transition to the RFDS, and a simple question, that sparked this research.

She shares, “Medical Chests have been supporting remote communities and putting patients at the centre of care for over 80 years, but their impact has never been comprehensively measured. We all know it makes a difference, but how do we demonstrate that?”

RFDS Medical Chests are distributed across remote Australia. They are secure, regulated boxes of essential medications located in remote communities.

In an emergency, patients connect with an RFDS doctor via telehealth and can be guided to administer treatment immediately, often long before they could physically access care. It’s a model that predates modern telehealth by decades, and one that places healthcare directly in the hands of the community.

This approach aligns with broader shifts towards patient-centred care in modern healthcare, something the Medical Chest Program has enabled for decades.

“The RFDS Medical Chest Program is a unique model of care, one that’s evolved over time to meet the needs of remote communities,” Ms Doran explains. “Our focus now is on capturing its impact and ensuring its value is clearly understood.”

The importance of the Medical Chest becomes clear when considering the realities of remote life.

“Some people’s driveways are 80 kilometres long,” shares Ms Doran. “When it rains, people can be cut off for weeks. If you get sick during that time, what do you do? The Medical Chest provides them with the tools to look after themselves.”

For many, seeking care isn’t just inconvenient; it comes at a cost to livelihood, safety, and connection to Country.

“People might delay getting help because it means leaving their community, losing productivity, or travelling long distances,” she explains. “Having access to treatment where they are can make all the difference.”

While the value of the Medical Chest Program is widely recognised, this project aims to quantify its impact, both for individuals and across the broader healthcare system.

The research will explore:

• How access to a Medical Chest influences patient experiences and decision-making
• Whether earlier treatment leads to improved health outcomes
• The broader health and economic implications for the healthcare system

“If we can show that giving the right treatment early, right there in someone’s home, changes their outcome, that’s incredibly powerful,” she says. “It’s about telling both the human story and the system story.”

Importantly, the project also highlights the capability and resilience of remote communities.

“It speaks to the ability of people to care for themselves, with the right support,” Ms Doran says. “And it helps ensure they can continue to live and work where they choose, and stay on Country.”

Ms Doran’s project is co-funded through EMF’s Queensland Research Program, supported by Queensland Health and EMF’s Trauma Care in Regional, Rural and Remote Queensland Special Research Grants Program, supported by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission.

The Trauma Care Program supports frontline clinicians to explore the challenges and opportunities unique to trauma care in regional and remote settings, while building research capacity across Queensland’s emergency care workforce. For Ms Doran, the support has been critical.

“Having EMF behind the project adds weight and visibility,” she says. “It helps us not only do the research, but also connect with the right people and shine a light on what we do at RFDS for the health system as a whole.”

For clinicians considering research, Ms Doran’s advice is simple:

“Don’t assume something has already been answered,” she says. “If there’s a question there to be asked, you might not be the first person to ask it, but you might be the first person to answer it.”

Ms Doran’s project began with curiosity and is growing into a collaborative effort spanning multiple disciplines and perspectives, demonstrating the value of clinician-led research in improving trauma care in regional and remote Queensland.