A virtual care project partnership between a local general practice and an aged care home aims to improve access to GP and specialist care for residents of an aged care home in the Taralga region. 

ThriveGP, in partnership with Uniting Taralga Residential Aged Care, is utilising advanced telehealth technology to enable residents to consult with their GP or specialist in real time.  

Uniting Taralga faces significant barriers to providing safe, timely health care for older residents because it is in a remote community with no resident GP and limited onsite clinical staffing. The aged care home relies heavily on external GP support, and without strengthened, reliable access to primary care services the community would be unable to sustain a local residential aged care option.  

Supported through COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW PHN’s Aged Care Virtual Care Grants Program, this project is designed to bridge the gap in available medical support, ensuring Taralga can continue offering aged care close to home despite the challenges of distance, clinician shortages and limited onsite resources.  

COORDINARE’s CEO Prue Buist said: “This project demonstrates how installing secure telehealth infrastructure, integrating digital health tools such as My Health Record and standardising workflows can benefit resident health outcomes. This includes workflows for acute assessments, chronic disease management, medication reviews, and routine GP rounds.  

“Virtual consultations are on track to commence in March 2026 at the Taralga nursing home, as clinician training has been completed, staff training is in process and VisionFlex telehealth equipment is now onsite,” she said. 

“We anticipate the learnings from this project can be implemented in other settings across South Eastern NSW,” said Ms Buist.  

ThriveGP's telehealth support manager Georgie Picker said the new technology enables residents to access real-time medical consultations with their GP or specialist without needing to leave the aged care home. 

“The mobile Visionflex cart provides high-quality video, audio and clinical imaging tools, allowing our GPs to assess patients, guide nursing staff and deliver timely care at the bedside," said Ms Picker. 

ThriveGP, Uniting Taralga and COORDINARE are also participating in a national research study that aims to ensure people living in residential aged care have better access to high quality, person-centred care with their usual general practice teams. 

Ms Buist said: “As partners in the University of Sydney’s GRACE Video Telehealth Study, we are supporting research activities that assess the quality, safety, acceptability, and sustainability of video telehealth interactions between GPs and residential aged care homes. This includes analysing GP and residential aged care home workflows, telehealth uptake, and patient and staff experience. 

 “Combining on the ground implementation with national research expertise will create a scalable, evidence-based model that aims to improve health outcomes for residents and support the sustainability of rural general practice,” said Ms Buist. 

Funded by the MRFF and NHMRC, the GRACE study led by Professor Meredith Makeham, Associate Dean from The University of Sydney involves pre and post implementation assessments, direct observation of telehealth encounters, and co-design workshops to develop a best practice model of virtual care. 

The GRACE study will monitor improvements in access to care, reductions in unnecessary hospital transfers, increased digital system use, and enhanced communication between general practice and aged care providers. Early project progress shows strong engagement from both ThriveGP clinicians and residential aged care staff. 

For more information and support regarding virtual care in aged care homes contact COORDINARE’s digital health team via digitalhealth@coordinare.org.au 

Pictured from left: Agnivo Sengupta & Ann Carrigan (GRACE study, University of Sydney), Georgia Picker (ThriveGP), Tina Walker (Uniting), Lana McDonald & Richard Opie (ThriveGP), Breeze Zammit (COORDINARE).