Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson confirmed yesterday that the detectives were on their way to Portland, Oregon, where Patel has been held since March.

"We made a decision that it was appropriate and timely for them to go," he said.

Mr Atkinson would not confirm where the two detectives would land in the United States, or when they planned to return to Queensland.

However he made it clear that the 58-year-old surgeon would appear before a magistrates court when he arrives back in Queensland, where issues of bail would be finalised.

It takes about 16 hours to fly from Portland to Queensland, though there is no confirmation of any flight details, or of where Patel might land in Queensland.

Commissioner Atkinson refused to speculate on US media reports that he could be back in Queensland by Friday, or that he would leave the United States this morning on a commercial flight.

He said the decision to send the two Queensland detectives had nothing to do with a decision by US marshalls to remove Patel from the Portland prison and hold him at a secret location before leaving for Australia.

"Our sense of it was that it would be better for people to be over there, in advance in terms of facilitating the process in terms of our responsibilities as the Queensland Police Service," he said.

Police Minister Judy Spence said they had been advised by the office of Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland to say as little as possible about the extradition process.

"I appreciate that the Queensland public want to know as much information as possible about how this is going to occur, but they don't want us to say anything that might upset the whole procedure right at this point in time," Ms Spence said.

Mr Atkinson said he understood that Patel would first appear before a magistrate upon his return.

"Theoretically, clearly he would go to the Brisbane Watchhouse and he would appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court," he said.

Queensland's new director of public prosecutions, Tony Moynihan, has been asked by Queensland Police to appear for the prosecution from the first appearance, Mr Atkinson added.

"So, discussions in relation to bail at this point in time will be between the Police Department and the DPP."

Patel, a US citizen, had been held in the Multnomah County Detention Centre, near Portland, since his arrest on March 11.

He faces 14 charges, including three counts of manslaughter, in relation to allegations of botched operations on patients at Bundaberg Hospital.

Mr Atkinson said the matter jurisdiction would be determined by the courts, not the police.

"My understanding of the techicality of it is that the alleged offences occurred in Bundaberg and the nearest Supreme Court would be Rockhampton, " he said.

"But the determination as to where the trial would take place, one would think that Brisbane would be a logical place."