This page is for Tasmanian health professionals – if you’re a consumer and want to know more about the GP-led respiratory clinics, please click here.
Primary Health Tasmania has helped set up GP-led respiratory clinics across Tasmania as part of our role in the Australian Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These clinics are for assessing, testing (if needed) and treating people with COVID-19 symptoms. There is no cost to the patient.
Please note these GP-led clinics require a booking, and do not see people who don’t have symptoms.
Primary Health Tasmania has developed an A4 infographic to help health professionals understand how the GP-led respiratory clinics fit into Tasmania’s broader COVID-19 response.
The resource steps you through the key points about:
Please note: if you print the resource, make sure you set your printer options to landscape.
These clinics are for patients of any age who present with mild-to-moderate respiratory or flu-like symptoms, such as:
There is no charge for people with these symptoms. People not eligible for Medicare can also be assessed and tested for free. People cannot be tested for free if they don’t have symptoms.
The Hobart and Launceston respiratory clinics are also happy to see COVID-positive patients with pressing medical needs where their usual general practice cannot.
Yes. Similar to mainstream general practices, these clinics can see people of all ages.
Children under the age of five should ideally be reviewed by a GP before a sample is collected. If the family’s usual GP or practice is unable to assess young children with respiratory symptoms, the child should be referred to one of these GP-led respiratory clinics.
There are three clinics spread across the state, located at:
Click on the links above to find the next available appointment.
A referral is not required. If a patient appears eligible to attend, you can recommend they make an appointment (or assist them to make an appointment) by either:
If a GP is asking a patient to attend a GP-led respiratory clinic for a specific reason, a referral noting this would be appreciated.
The GP-led respiratory clinics are able to offer assessment and management for people with respiratory symptoms as well as COVID positive patients who need face to face review where the regular practice is unable to do so. The THS respiratory clinics only undertake COVID-19 testing.
The GP-led respiratory clinics will let patients know their test result – negative or positive. They will contact the patient as soon as they receive the result from the laboratory. This could take several days depending on demand. With the patient’s permission, results will also be shared with their regular GP.
Pathology services will notify Public Health Services of all positive results. Public Health Services will follow up with positive patients to ensure they are aware of requirements around self-isolation and contact tracing.
In Tasmania, patients who test positive have multiple avenues for support including GP led management, COVID@home and escalation into the hospital system based on individual circumstances and need.
GP-led respiratory clinics are able to review COVID positive patients where they need face to face care and their usual general practice isn’t able to assist.
Information is currently being uploaded to the COVID-19 GP-led Management Tasmanian HealthPathway to this effect, but contact details for both the Hobart Respiratory Clinic and Launceston Respiratory Clinic can also be found via HotDocs.
Apart from this web page, the best place for all localised information for primary health professionals about COVID-19 services and impacts in Tasmania is Tasmanian HealthPathways.
All Tasmanian health professionals can access this database. If you don’t already have the log in and password, please get in touch.