It has taken a pandemic to get there, but the Federal Government says it will finally give GPs the option of ditching paper scripts for totally electronic prescribing.

In an attempt to shift patients from as many unnecessary face-to-face consults as possible, the government has rolled out new MBS items for telehealth.

And it is already funding pharmacies to make home deliveries to high-risk patients — including the elderly, those in isolation, the immunosuppressed, and those with chronic conditions.

But under the new system, which the Department of Health says it will deliver in eight weeks’ time, patients will be able to consult a GP online, and will receive a web link by email or text — called a “token” — which they can forward to a pharmacist of their choice.