Pledge to boost GP access in after-hours telehealth

More than $200 million will be poured into a re-branded telehealth service, boosting the reach of after-hours GP consults, according to a new Labor Party election commitment.
 
On Sunday, the Labor Party pledged $204.5 million to ‘improve existing Healthdirect services and expand them to every state and territory, under one consistent national service’ if it is re-elected on Saturday.
 
Triage nurses would be able to connect callers to urgent GP care if patients are unable to wait for their regular GP, according to the announcement.
 
Under the plan, a rebranded 1800MEDICARE service would launch on 1 January 2026, replacing the current after-hours services run by Healthdirect.
 
The increased funding has been earmarked to increase workforce hours as well as the reach of the telehealth service, which would run every weekend and on weeknights between 6 pm and 8 am.
 
The Labor Party says its plan will help 250,000 Australians ‘avoid an unnecessary trip to a hospital emergency department’.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright said the move to increase after-hours access to GP care is a ‘positive step’.
 
‘After-hours care is a key part of what GPs do in communities nationwide every day, and this announcement recognises that,’ he said.
 
‘So, we look forward to understanding the detail of this program and working with the Government to make sure that general practice is consulted every step of the way.
 
‘It is essential that this service integrates with existing general practice care.’
 
Speaking on the Today Show on Monday, Federal Health and Aged Care Minister Mark Butler said the service aims to provide people with quality health advice at all times of the day and night.
 
‘If they need to have a telehealth [consult] with a qualified GP, they can do that completely free of charge, knowing that it’s a high-quality GP and it will be looped back into their traditional healthcare system,’ he said.
 
‘Recorded on their My Health Record, the GP on the other end of the video call will have access to the My Health Record so they know your medical history.
 
‘This rounds out our Urgent Care Clinic program to make sure that people have access to high quality, affordable care wherever they are in the community, whatever time they get sick.’
 
Opposition health spokesperson Anne Ruston said the Coalition supports the pledge, but said it is not a new measure and that telehealth had become universally available in Australia under the previous government.
 
Currently Healthdirect, which is jointly funded by Federal, State and Territory Governments, runs the After Hours GP Helpline. Trialled in New South Wales in 2022, the scheme was then expanded to South Australia and Victoria.
 
According to its annual report, there were 91,709 referrals from the Healthdirect helpline ‘to the virtual GP escalation pathway for a phone or video call-back’ in 2023–24 with the video option used in more than 25% of consultations.
 
The report also states that Healthdirect receives 67% of its calls after-hours.
 
A separate report, undertaken by the Department of Health and Aged Care and released in August last year, found after-hours care ‘generally provides consumers with care when and where they need it’, but found the current system ‘complex, fragmented, and difficult to navigate’.
 
It also said too many people are going to emergency departments for non-emergency needs, and incentives are ‘insufficient, misaligned and act as a limiting factor for take up or entry by primary care services’ – issues authors said are ‘exacerbated in rural and remote areas’.
 
The proposed reforms include better targeting of incentives such as the After Hours Practice Incentive Payment (PIP), integrating after-hours care within an urgent care framework, a rural road map for after-hours care, and improvement to safety and quality standards.
 
Authors reported that the Federal Government had spent around $689 million in 2023–24 on after-hours care.
 
This included around $521 million for around eight million Medicare Benefits Schedule services, $92 million for more than 6000 general practices claiming the After Hours PIP, $41 million for the Primary Health Network After Hours program, and $35 million on Healthdirect’s Nurse Triage and After Hours GP Helpline.
 
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