The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Dubbo Support Group volunteers were recently treated to morning tea and a tour of the latest upgrade to the organisation’s facilities at the airport made possible by their hard work.

The volunteers joined RFDS South Eastern Section (SSE) CEO Greg Sam, local dignitaries including Dubbo mayor Cr Josh Black and state MP Dugald Saunders, RFDSSE Chief Medical Officer A/Professor Shannon Nott, and staff from the RFDS dental team for the event on Friday, August 14.

The newly established dental sterilisation facility is the direct result of fundraising by the RFDS Dubbo Support Group, and enables the hard working mobile dental team to sterilise their equipment and store it locally.

Many people don’t know the RFDSSE provides dental services as part of its outreach to bush communities, and CEO Greg Sam describes the upgraded facilities at Dubbo as a “gamechanger”.

“This is a real game changer in terms of how we're able to operate our dental service,” he told Dubbo Photo News.

“The ability to have this type of facility here makes a big difference to the time that our staff have to work in clinic, and the ease with which we can sterilise our equipment to make sure that it's available.

“So it's a key part of continuing to enable our service to operate,” he added.

Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders MP paid tribute to the RFDS and the Dubbo Support Group for making the upgrade possible.

“The RFDS has done an amazing job with all sorts of healthcare over the years, and particularly for far western region, and the ability for them to sterilise their own dental gear now and have it on hand is great,” he said.

“The Dubbo Support Group for so many years has helped fundraise for these things, so a big shout out to them and their vision to raise money for things that actually make a difference on the ground.”

Mayor Josh Black spoke about the impact of the upgraded facilities to the wider region.

“This has a bigger impact than people realise, and across all of rural and remote NSW and the RFDS services,” he said.

“Well done to the Dubbo Support Group for everything that they've done to make this happen,” he said.

“We wouldn't be here today without the local volunteers who raise so much money and paid so much effort to provide an essential health service to the broader western region.”

Dubbo Support Group volunteers Diane James and Val Roberts were pleased to attend the event.

Diane said she joined the group because she felt good about giving something back to the organisation that is a lifeline to many in the bush.

Val said most people’s idea of the RFDS was limited to what they knew from the old 1980s TV medical drama “The Flying Doctors”. In reality, it was so much more.

“Three quarters of the year, we’re able to send out those dental teams and medical teams to support all the clinics around that don’t have those services,” Val said.

Ellen Stanmore OAM is another volunteer whose family’s connection with the RFDS dates back to pre-World War II. Her late husband Jack was rescued as a newborn infant from the family property at Ivanhoe in 1938 by Australia pioneer aviatrix Nancy-Bird Walton, forging a long connection between their families and the RFDS.

Ellen and Jack, who passed away in 2014, have sold thousands of raffle tickets for the RFDS over the years, earning Ellen the nickname “The Raffle Queen”.

Ellen said she was delighted to attend the event and see the ongoing good work made possible by the organisation that was so very close to her heart.