One year ago, if you had asked me if I saw myself running a national helpline guiding the Australian public through a world changing global pandemic, I might have suggested you watch less far flung Hollywood movies.

These last few months have been nothing short of surreal; being involved in one of the largest national telehealth setups in history that formed part of the Federal Government’s ‘war room’ efforts amidst this pandemic.

The National Coronavirus Helpline was set up by Healthdirect Australia, a government-funded organisation well versed in operating helplines and telehealth services.

In a previous life I worked as a senior medical advisor and medical director of Medibank Health Solutions, which runs Healthdirect’s nurse triage line as a white-label service.