MediCompare Patient Guide: Free Telehealth Consultations for Infants

When caring for your sick baby, it can be hard to decide whether to try to keep them comfortable at home or to head out to get urgent access to care. Telehealth consults for infants can offer a helpful and fast solution. They are often also fully bulk-billed, depending on the provider.

With many conditions’ symptoms resembling each other in the first phases, the difficulty of figuring out what’s going on with pre-verbal children, and infants’ conditions sometimes worsening quickly, at-home healthcare can be especially beneficial. Quick access to medical advice for parents can make all the difference.

If you’re in a bind, MediCompare’s list of telehealth providers offering fee consultations for infants is a good starting point.

Just like when you are seeking in-person medical advice for your child, telehealth providers rely on a number of different professions to triage and field your call. There are some services offering quick access to children’s health nurses, others that provide 24/7 GP consults, and those focused on paediatric specialists. This gives you a broad range to pick from without the hassle of packing up a sick child or waiting in crowded rooms. When you’re unsure whether their condition is simple and best addressed with rest, such as a low-grade fever or an upset stomach, telehealth consultations can provide clarity quickly.

Telehealth consults do have their limitations. If you only need a reassuring assessment or general advice on how to manage common childhood illnesses such as a runny nose, sore throat, mild fever, or minor rash, telehealth can be your go-to. They can also be helpful when you are unsure of how to make your child comfortable or whether to head to an urgent care clinic after-hours. If you live remotely, they can make the difference between one too many long trips to your family doctor and your child resting at home.

While not every condition can be treated remotely, telehealth professionals can be your first port of call to determine when in-person care is necessary. They are trained to ask the right questions and offer practical advice, providing peace of mind, especially for first-time parents. This can make telehealth an excellent first step in managing your infant’s health.

There is a range of options to choose from for free infant telehealth consultations. They range from comprehensive private providers offering free infant telehealth to state-run specialised nurse-led services. All options listed below are free for children under 12 months old; some are free for children under 16 years old.

• Abby Health: Bulk-billed consults are available with GPs and NPs 7 days a week during extended opening hours. This top-rated provider offers a patient-centric, AI-led booking process and high-quality consults.
• virtualKIDS: This government-funded, paediatric nurse and specialist service is available 24/7 and provides free virtual urgent care for kids under 16 in NSW. It can be accessed via HealthDirect at 1800 022 222. The service can arrange an ambulance transfer to urgent in-person care.
• Lena Medical: A comprehensive 24/7 telehealth provider offering end-to-end care with free infant consults, access to specialists, face-to-face GP consults in some areas, and medication delivery.
• Instant Consult: This consistently highly ranked telehealth provider offers free consults for infants within 15 minutes between 6 am and midnight every day. It’s a popular choice for patients of all ages, but you may need to download the app or a specific browser to connect.
• Teldoc: Open 9 am to 7 pm Monday to Sunday, this provider has fast access to fully bulk-billed telehealth consults for babies under 12 months. Wait times are under 15 minutes.
• National Telemedicine Doctors: Open 6 am to midnight on weekdays and 9 am to 7 pm on weekends, this telehealth provider includes bulk-billed consults for infants in its extensive bulk billing policy.  Bookings can be made by phone or via the online form.
• 13SICK: A government-funded after-hours only service with at-home visits and telehealth consults that can be booked by dialling 13SICK.  Availability can vary depending on your area, and reviews tend to be mixed.

When your baby is sick, it can be hard to determine whether they need urgent attention or just care and rest. As fever and other symptoms tend to spike later in the day due to the way our immune system works, parents often face the choice between keeping their child comfortable at home or disrupting their sleep and heading to A&E. That’s precisely where telehealth can provide quick access to a virtual assessment by qualified professionals, helping parents decide what course of action to take, when their young child suddenly gets sick. Free telehealth for children under 12 months fills the gap.

Where possible, seeking specialised video consults for infants, such as those provided by virtualKIDS in NSW, is your best bet, with speedy telehealth consults with top-rated providers your next best choice.

This article is for informational purposes only and is no substitute for professional medical advice. Please choose your provider with care. Always consult your doctor or a qualified health professional regarding any health-related questions or concerns.

[1] https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/virtualkids-sydney-childrens-hospitals-network