Leaving a sickbed to visit a doctor for a script or medical certificate will be a thing of the past under a new free service.
The adult-focused virtual urgent care service to be rolled out in December expects to treat thousands of people each month for illness or injuries such as coughs, colds, fevers, vomiting, minor infections and rashes.
Patients will be connected via video call to a multidisciplinary team of clinicians, including doctors and nurses, and receive expert advice.
Building on earlier success with a children-focused service, it's hoped VirtualADULTS can save more than 85,000 people from unnecessary waits in an emergency department or GP every year.
More than 1.25 million people have arrived at NSW emergency departments in the past year with semi-urgent or non-urgent issues, as the costs of GP visits continue to rise.
"We are working to relieve pressure on our busy emergency departments by creating more alternative pathways to care outside the hospital," Health Minister Ryan Park said.
"Virtual care has made tremendous progress, accelerated in part by the pandemic, and it is becoming an increasingly embraced model of care, allowing people to be treated from the comfort of home.
“Virtual care is safe, effective and convenient, and I am so pleased we are making it available for adults for urgent care."
The state's VirtualKIDS urgent care service launched in late 2023 and has provided more timely, convenient care to 10,000 children and saved many thousand hospital trips across NSW.
Taking in two other virtual care services for mental health and specialist services recently rolled out, the total investment of $171.4 million is credited for diverting 180,000 emergency department trips.
The service will launch in Sydney in December, and a regional hub in early 2025, initially serving patients during business hours.
An after-hours service will begin in February with patients from across NSW accepted by the end of 2025.
Patients who call HealthDirect and are assessed by a registered nurse can be referred to the service, where appropriate.
Virtual telehealth has undergone a rapid expansion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Just one in every 2000 Medicare services were delivered via telehealth in 2019 whereas it now covers almost one in 600, and a third of GP-specific Medicare services.
One in four Australians had at least one telehealth consultation in the 2022/23 financial year, according to the federal health minister.
