Gilgandra and Warren medical practices are being taken over by The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) as of Monday 12 December.

It comes just months after Rural and Remote Medical Services (RARMS) announced the discontinuation of the RARMS program in August, stating the program became unsustainable for the charity due to rapid increases in health care and locum costs.

Gilgandra Mayor Doug Batten said the situation should bring many positive outcomes to the community.

"We were shocked when RARMS announced the discontinuation of their services in both Gilgandra and Warren," Cr Batten said.

"In Gilgandra, we have four other medical practices- which are all struggling to find doctors that are willing to stay. I am hopeful that by The Rural Flying Doctor Service starting in town that there will be a good supply of doctors come through. The RFDS will assume operations as of next Monday and will take over management of the practices in a long- term arrangement," he said.

CEO of RFDS (South Eastern Section) Greg Sam says it is a golden opportunity for RFDS to operate and provide rural communities with much needed healthcare services.

“For the RFDS, the decision to assume operation of these two practices was not taken lightly because the operating environment for regional and rural healthcare providers is tough at the moment - we’re seeing a growing need for primary care services amid rising costs and workforce pressures," Mr Sam said.

“The RFDS has been delivering primary health care services in Western and Far Western NSW for some time now, and so we recognised that this was an important opportunity - where we could help provide much needed certainty and stability for the communities who rely on these medical practices for their essential healthcare," he said.

Whilst the RFDS is well known for their 24/7 aeromedical retrieval services, they also have been delivering primary care to people living in Western and Far Western NSW. Last year, the service delivered primary care to 7,321 patients, across 838 primary health clinics- with Gilgandra and Warren now joining that list during the final weeks of 2022.

The Gilgandra and Warren practices currently employ 16 people who provide healthcare to more than 8,400 patients.