As of 31 July 2025, there have been some changes to the provision of after-hours GP phone support in Tasmania.
Primary Health Tasmania has developed this information to assist general practices and other services in relation to the GP Assist Tasmania service ending on 31 July, and the commencement of some new after-hours support arrangements.
Tasmanian community members 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 was extended to Tasmania on 31 July.
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:
This is a good time for general practices to check their after-hours arrangements. Some suggestions follow, and further advice and support is available by contacting us.
Clarify your after-hours pathology arrangements
Your practice should:
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 Healthdirect is not a deputising service or cooperatives (neither was GP Assist). 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:
Update your patient-facing information
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 Australia 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.
Health professionals working in aged care homes can call the Healthdirect helpline (1800 022 222) for after-hours support. Please identify yourself to the triage nurse as a health professional calling from an aged care home, as this will assist with triage to a Healthdirect GP where appropriate.
Healthdirect’s after-hours GP service supports residents and staff by providing prescriptions that can be filled by the facility’s partner pharmacy. However, the service cannot chart or amend medication charts or provide telephone orders. Medication charting remains the responsibility of the resident’s usual GP or authorised prescriber.
This is a good time for aged care homes to check their after-hours arrangements. Homes are encouraged to:
Primary Health Tasmania has collated a point-in-time table of after-hours services aged care homes can access if their usual GPs/general practices aren’t available. Click here to download the table.
Further advice and support is available by contacting us.
The after-hours palliative care nurse triage service previously provided by GP Assist has transitioned to the Tasmanian Department of Health’s Care@home program.
This change ensures continued access to free after-hours support for Specialist Palliative Care Service patients, their families, carers and healthcare professionals.
The service is accessible after hours by calling 1800 973 363 and selecting Option 3.
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, including referrer and consumer fact sheets.
Primary Health Tasmania will share any further updates through this web page, through our Primary Health Update newsletter and – where appropriate – by direct email.
In the meantime, health professionals and practice staff can send us a message with any questions or for support.