This page will be updated with further information as it becomes available.
From 1 August this year, there will be some changes to the delivery of after-hours GP phone support in Tasmania.
Primary Health Tasmania has developed this information to help general practices and other services transfer to new arrangements when the GP Assist Tasmania service ends on 31 July 2025.
The Australian and Tasmanian health departments are progressing options to ensure community members continue to have access to after-hours GP support.
This includes extension of healthdirect’s free after-hours GP telehealth service to Tasmania from 1 August.
Alternative arrangements are also being progressed to ensure health professionals and health services continue to have access to after-hours support.
Please note that some access pathways will change, as certain services previously provided by GP Assist will instead be delivered by other providers. For example, the after-hours palliative care nurse triage service will be provided through Care@home (see below).
Primary Health Tasmania is providing advice and assistance to the departments to support the transition to new arrangements.
For the community
Tasmanian community members will continue to have free after-hours access to GP support, where required, through the healthdirect helpline.
Healthdirect Australia’s free after-hours GP telehealth service will be extended to Tasmania from 1 August.
Tasmanians can call healthdirect (1800 022 222) any time of the day or night and receive advice from a registered nurse. Callers in the after-hours period who are advised by the nurse to see a GP within 24 hours will, where appropriate, be offered a telephone or video call back from a GP – free of charge.
Healthdirect GPs can provide an e-prescription via SMS and can also upload prescriptions and a call summary to the caller’s My Health Record so it is available to their regular GP.
Click here for more information about the healthdirect helpline and the GP telehealth service.
More information about after-hours access to health advice and medical support is also available through:
Primary Health Tasmania’s Tas After Hours website – tasafterhours.com. This website has comprehensive information about doctors, medical services and helplines available after hours.
The Tasmanian Department of Health’s website – information about care options both within and outside of regular business hours. This includes details of the free Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in Launceston, Devonport, Bridgewater and Hobart, which are funded by the Australian Government. There is a range of resources – part of the ‘Know your treatment options’ campaign – to help people navigate the care options available.
In addition to the healthdirect helpline, people can visit the healthdirect website (www.healthdirect.gov.au) for health information and advice.
For general practice
There are a number of things general practices can do to prepare for the transition from the GP Assist service.
Clarify your after-hours pathology arrangements
Your practice should:
confirm who is responsible for receiving and actioning urgent after-hours pathology results
set up a process or escalation pathway for urgent results (e.g. an on-call GP)
clearly document this process internally and ensure clinical staff are aware of the arrangements
communicate your urgent after-hours preferences to your pathology provider.
Please note that urgent pathology results that come through in the after-hours period will not be referred to healthdirect.
Review your after-hours incentive payment level
Review what payment level you are claiming for the after-hours incentive under the Practice Incentives Program. You can review the guidelines here.
It is important to note that GP Assist and healthdirect are not deputising services or cooperatives. If your practice is claiming levels 1-4, you must ensure you have all relevant arrangements and documentation in place.
Review how your practice uses and accesses My Health Record
Having up-to-date information in a patient’s MyHealth Record allows for continuity of care between healthdirect’s after-hours GP helpline and the patient’s regular GP.
Healthdirect uploads an event summary to My Health Record or sends an encounter summary to the patient’s regular GP, where the patient has a My Health Record, their GP has a secure messaging endpoint, and consent has been provided.
If your practice is eligible for the eHealth incentive payment under the Practice Incentives Program, check that you are registered. The guidelines can be viewed here.
Review your listing in the National Health Services Directory (NHSD)
By keeping your NHSD listing up to date, your patients and healthdirect triage nurses can see your opening hours and correct contact details when they are considering local after-hours options.
Practices can update their details via the following methods:
Clear and consistent communication about your practice’s after-hours arrangements is essential for patient safety, continuity of care, and meeting accreditation standards. This is a good time to review and update all of your patient-facing information about these arrangements.
Ensure you have clear information on your website, in your practice, on your recorded phone message, and in any other patient-facing resources that direct patients to appropriate after-hours support.
For emergencies, patients should call 000 (triple zero) or go to a hospital emergency department.
If it’s urgent but not an emergency, Tasmanians can call healthdirect (1800 022 222) any time of the day or night and speak to a registered nurse (see ‘For the community’, above).
A suggested script for a recorded out-of-hours phone message is:
Our practice is open during the hours of [insert hours of operation].
If you need support outside of these hours, please call healthdirect on 1800 022 222. A healthdirect nurse will ask about your symptoms and recommend the most appropriate and available care – this might include [insert local options: e.g. visiting the local Medicare Urgent Care Clinic or late-night pharmacy], or a phone or video consultation with a GP. That number again is 1800 022 222.
For emergencies, patients should call 000 (triple zero) or go to a hospital emergency department.
See the ‘For the community’ section above for more information about after-hours access to health advice and medical support for patients.
For aged care homes
Health professionals working in aged care homes can call the healthdirect helpline (1800 022 222) for after-hours support. Please identify yourself as a health professional calling from an aged care home, as this will assist with triage to a healthdirect GP where appropriate.
There are a number of things residential aged care homes can do to prepare for the transition from the GP Assist service. Homes are encouraged to:
engage with the GPs and general practices they work with to check their after-hours availability
consider the role of GPs in each facility
consider how residents’ urgent after-hours pathology results are accessed
review how they use and access My Health Record, and support residents to register for My Health Record
support residents to register for MyMedicare
familiarise themselves with the after-hours supports available to them.
Primary Health Tasmania has collated a point-in-time table of after-hours services aged care homes can access. Click here to download the table.
Palliative care support
The Tasmanian Department of Health has advised that the after-hours palliative care nurse triage service currently provided by GP Assist will transition to the Department’s Care@home program.
This change will ensure continued access to free after-hours support for Specialist Palliative Care Service patients, their families, carers and health care professionals.
From 6pm on 31 July, the service will be accessible after hours by calling 1800 973 363 and selecting Option 3.
Over the coming weeks, consumers and healthcare professionals will receive further information about the updated care pathways to support a smooth transition.
The Department says while the way people access support is changing, the service itself will remain the same, ensuring uninterrupted care for patients and their support networks.
Click here for more information on the Tasmanian Department of Health website.
Get in touch
Primary Health Tasmania is working with the Australian and Tasmanian health departments as these new arrangements are put in place.
