North Queensland Urgent After Hours Telehealth

Tropical cyclone Jasper and Cairns floods update:

This service is normally only available to people outside of the major population centres but has been extended short-term to take in flood affected areas of the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital Health Service where patients with urgent medical needs are unable to access in hours support.

RFDS is now offering urgent after hours GP telehealth to rural, remote, and regional patients in the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) region who would present to emergency departments. This service has been made possible by funding from NQPHN.


Phone number:  1300 697 622


Hours of operation:


Monday - Friday: 6pm-11pm
Saturday: 1pm-12am
Sundays and Public Holidays: 24 hours

The upcoming public holidays for Queensland are: 

  • Good Friday - Friday 29 March
  • Easter Saturday - Saturday 30 March
  • Easter Sunday - Sunday 31 March
  • Easter Monday - Monday 1 April
  • Anzac Day - Thursday 25 April 
  • Labour Day - Monday 6 May 
  • King's Birthday - Monday 7 October
  • Christmas Day - Wednesday 25 December 
  • Boxing Day - Thursday 26 December 

Medical Criteria to call:

Urgent after-hours care only that would otherwise go to the Emergency Department at night.

Care that can’t wait until 0800am the following day.

Geographical Criteria:


Rural, remote and regional centres only.
Excludes:

  • Major Centres
  • Cairns City and surrounds
  • Townsville City and surrounds
  • Mackay City and surrounds
  • Places with existing GPs and after-hours services.

Services we don’t provide:

Calls of a non-urgent or convenient nature, such as routine script repeats, or conditions that can be seen appropriately the following day, will be referred back to the patients treating general practitioner or appropriate health practitioner to be actioned at an appropriate in hours time frame.

We don't provide:

  • Medical certificates
  • Repeat scripts
  • Referrals
  • Results
  • Pathology requests
North Queensland PHN region map
Dr Meg O'Connell

Service Lead contact details:

Dr Meg O’Connell is happy to be contacted to discuss anything and keeps an open door policy to any concerns that might come up. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Dr Meg O’Connell
Medical Lead- Telehealth
Royal Flying Doctors Service- Queensland Section moconnell@rfdsqld.com.au
ph: 07 4040 0444