Recruitment push for 1800MEDICARE ‘virtual GPs’

A recruitment drive is underway for GPs to carry out remote telehealth work for 1800MEDICARE, as health officials prepare for an expected increase in demand.
 
The new service launched on 1 January and is part of an election pledge by the Albanese Government last April to ‘improve existing Healthdirect services and expand them to every state and territory, under one consistent national service’.
 
Despite the name change, the 1800MEDICARE service is still operated by Healthdirect Australia, which is funded by federal, state and territory governments and sources its GP workforce through large medical providers.
 
This month, there has been a flurry of job advertisements for remote 1800MEDICARE GP telehealth positions, including through medical service providers such as Aspen Medical, and Amplar Health, which is part of Medibank.
 
In response to a query about the number of GPs involved, a Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DoHDA) spokesperson did not offer specifics apart from to indicate that referrals are expected to rise.
 
‘1800MEDICARE provides universal consumer access to afterhours virtual GP care, with doctors available from 6.00 pm – 8.00 am on weekdays and now all weekend across Australia,’ they told newsGP.
 
‘As awareness … increases, demand for the service is expected to grow, leading to more clinically appropriate referrals to the virtual GP service.’
 
They also said the virtual GP service would be ‘responsive to service demand’ and that DoHDA ‘works with Healthdirect to continually monitor real-time and forecast call volumes, ensuring the workforce is appropriately resourced to meet consumer usage and deliver high-quality virtual GP care’.
 
The roles are advertised as fully remote and involving no billing or Medicare administration. One recruitment post says successful applicants are able to self-roster for a minimum of a two-hour shift covering at least 15 to 20 hours per fortnight.
 
The advertisements seen by newsGP include options covering shifts for all days of the week and most hours of the day and night.
 
Referral options under the 1800MEDICARE service, which typically involves an initial nurse triage, include emergency departments, virtual emergency departments run by state governments, the patient’s normal GP, the Healthdirect-run virtual GP service, pharmacy, other health professionals or self care.
 
According to the most recent Healthdirect Australia annual report, the triage and advice service received more than 1.4 million calls in 2024–2025, with almost two-thirds occurring after-hours, and nurse triage taking place 74% of the time.
 
The most common outcome is the patient’s referral to an emergency department, 000, or to virtual emergency departments, which happened 361,545 times.
 
Referral to a GP was the second most common outcome, happening 270,457 times, while the virtual GP service was called upon on 101,309 occasions.
 
There has also been a surge in urgent care centre referrals, which stood at 112,671 last financial year having registered just 1771 referrals in 2022–2023.
 
Referrals to both GPs and the virtual GP had declined in the two most recent financial years after an influx during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
According to Healthdirect, it has reduced referrals to emergency departments by 10% over the 12 months covered in its latest report, including diverting 61% of callers ‘who thought they needed an ED to lower acuity care options’.
 
It also said 73% of its virtual GP consultations resulted in the patient not needing to leave home.
 
Funding for the 1800MEDICARE service was set out in the Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) published late last year.
 
It confirmed $219.8 million over four years from 2025–26 for putting it in place, with $48.7 million annually beyond that.
 
The focus of Healthdirect’s after-hours GP helpline has shifted previously since its introduction in 2011, according to a report from Allen + Clarke Consulting, which was commissioned to carry out research for a Federal Government review of primary care after hours programs and policy.
 
It noted a change in 2015 to prioritise patients from outside metropolitan areas, followed by another shift in July 2023, when nurses were able to triage callers from New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria to the GP helpline 24-hours a day.
 
A related report released by DoHDA in 2024 found the Federal Government had spent around $689 million on after-hours care in 2023–24, including around $521 million in MBS services, $92 million for the After Hours Practice Incentive Payment, $41 million for the Primary Health Network After Hours program, and $35 million on the Healthdirect Nurse Triage and After Hours GP Helpline.
 
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1800MEDICARE after-hours care Medicare