Patient guide
How to change telehealth clinics, step by step
Moving your care to a new clinic involves your paperwork from the clinic you are leaving, a first consultation with a new Clinician, and, if that Clinician decides to prescribe, a new TGA approval in their name. This guide sets out the order and the timing. It is general information, not medical or legal advice.
Last verified 27 October 2026 against TGA, Ahpra and OAIC guidance. Rules change; check with your clinic before you rely on this.
The short answer
- Ask your current clinic, in writing, for a treatment summary, a copy of your approval letter and the details of your current prescription. You can also ask for your full record.
- Your TGA approval names your current prescriber, so it does not move with you. If your new Clinician decides to prescribe, they apply in their own name, and the TGA states it processes applications in 2 to 5 days.
- Book with the new clinic 4 to 6 weeks before your supply or your approval runs out. A consultation, an application and a decision all have to fit inside that time.
- Australian privacy law gives you a general right to access your health information. Leaving a clinic is not one of the grounds the OAIC lists for refusing access.
- Keep taking your medicine as prescribed while the move happens, and talk to a prescriber before you stop or change anything.
Changing clinics
Moving your care from another clinic?
Our changing clinics page explains what to bring: your current prescription details and, if you have one, a treatment summary. A LeafLine Clinician reviews your history at a first consultation and decides what happens next.
Start here
Three things that move differently when you change clinics
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Your record moves by request
Your file stays with the clinic that created it. You can ask for a copy yourself, or give your new clinic written consent to request it. The OAIC notes that a provider may prefer to send the record straight to your new provider.
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Your approval stays with your prescriber
The TGA grants a Category B approval to the practitioner who applied, and only that practitioner can prescribe under it. A Clinician at a new clinic cannot use it, so they make a new application if they decide to prescribe.
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Your new Clinician assesses you afresh
A new Clinician reviews your history, makes their own clinical judgement and obtains your informed consent before prescribing anything. A transfer does not carry a prescription across automatically.
The steps
Changing clinics in seven steps
- 01
Find your two dates
Work out the date your current approval runs to and the date you expect to use your last repeat. The earlier of the two sets your deadline. If you do not know the approval date, your current clinic can tell you.
- 02
Ask your current clinic for your paperwork
Send a dated email asking for a treatment summary, a copy of your approval letter and your current prescription details: what you are prescribed, how you take it, and how many repeats remain. Add your full record if you want it.
- 03
Book with the new clinic early
Book 4 to 6 weeks before your deadline. Tell the new clinic where you are being treated now and when your dates fall, so it can plan the first consultation around them.
- 04
Consent to a records request
Many clinics will request your records from your previous clinic once you give written consent. Send anything you already hold before the appointment, because your Clinician can read it in advance.
- 05
Have your first consultation
Your new Clinician goes through your history and current treatment with you and decides what is clinically appropriate. Expect the same questions about safety and medical history that any first consultation includes.
- 06
Wait for the TGA decision
If your Clinician decides to apply, the application goes to the TGA, along with any state approval your circumstances require. A prescription follows only after the approval is granted.
- 07
Tell your old clinic
Once your new prescription is in place, let your previous clinic know you have moved, so it can close your bookings and reminders.
Put the request in writing. A dated email is the record you rely on if nothing arrives.
Your paperwork
What to ask your current clinic for
Four documents cover almost everything a new Clinician wants to see. A treatment summary gives your history and current treatment in a few pages. A copy of your approval letter shows what was approved and the date it runs to. Your current prescription details tell the new Clinician exactly what you take now and how many repeats are left. Your full record is optional, and useful when your history is long. The treatment summary guide has wording you can use.
Australian privacy law gives you a general right to request access to the health information a clinic holds about you. The OAIC treats 30 days as a reasonable period for a response, and says a clinic may charge for access as long as the charge is not excessive (OAIC, read 27 October 2026). The clinic can refuse only in narrow situations, such as where access would threaten someone's safety or affect another person's privacy, and your decision to leave is not among them. Our article on your right to your health records covers the request and what to do if it is ignored.
You do not have to collect everything before you book. Many clinics, LeafLine included, will request your records from your previous clinic once you give written consent, and the OAIC notes that some providers prefer to send a record straight to the new provider.
The approval
Why your new Clinician applies afresh
A Special Access Scheme Category B approval is granted by the TGA to the practitioner who applied, for one patient. The TGA states that the prescriber named on the approval letter is the only practitioner authorised to use it (TGA, read 16 and 20 October 2026). Your approval therefore stays with the prescriber at the clinic you are leaving, and the Clinician at your new clinic makes their own application if they decide to prescribe.
That application follows a consultation, because the applicant gives the clinical justification and the TGA places the duty to obtain your informed consent on the prescribing practitioner. The TGA states it processes applications in 2 to 5 days, and longer if it needs more information. A new approval runs for the period written on its own letter, which may differ from your old one. The approval and expiry guide explains what that period means, and the guide to a change of Clinician covers the same rule inside one clinic.
Some states and territories add their own permit or approval in defined cases, and the TGA states that its approval does not override those requirements. Your new Clinician checks what applies where you live. If you are also moving house to another state, read the moving interstate guide as well, because the state rules and the monitoring system both change.
Timing
How to avoid a gap in supply
A gap happens when your last repeat or your approval runs out before the new clinic has an approval in place. A first consultation, an application and the TGA's decision all have to happen in between. Booking 4 to 6 weeks ahead of the earlier of your two dates leaves room for a delay in any one of them, such as a records request that takes a fortnight or a TGA request for more information.
Stay with your current clinic until the new prescription exists. If a review falls due at your old clinic while the move is under way, keep it. Ask your current clinic whether your remaining repeats can be dispensed while the new application is processed, because none of the official pages we read answers that question for a change of clinic.
Read this before you start
What not to do while you move
Do not stop or change how you take your medicine because a move is in progress. Talk to your current prescriber, your new Clinician or your GP first. Do not put off booking until every record has arrived; book, and let the new clinic chase what is missing. If a clinic stalls on your records, put the request in writing and quote the 30 days the OAIC treats as reasonable. The changing clinics page sets out how a transfer to LeafLine works, and every fee is on the fees page.
Current at 27 October 2026. General information, not medical or legal advice. Sources: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, Access your health information (read 27 October 2026); Ahpra, Information for practitioners who provide virtual care (page reviewed 7 October 2025, read 27 October 2026); TGA, Access to unapproved therapeutic goods for individual patients (Special Access Scheme) (last updated 3 December 2025) and Special Access Scheme guidance for health practitioners (last updated 1 October 2024), both read 16 and 20 October 2026. The TGA site did not respond to an automated read on 27 October 2026, so the TGA statements rest on the October reads. No official page we read says whether repeats written by a previous prescriber can be dispensed after a change of clinic, so the guide tells you to ask.
Changing clinics: common questions
How do I change telehealth clinics?
Ask your current clinic for a treatment summary, a copy of your approval letter and your current prescription details, then book a first consultation with the new clinic 4 to 6 weeks before your supply or approval runs out. The new Clinician assesses you and, if they decide to prescribe, applies to the TGA in their own name. This is general information, not medical or legal advice.
Does my approval transfer to the new clinic?
No. The TGA states that the prescriber named on the approval letter is the only practitioner authorised to use it. If your new Clinician decides to prescribe, they make a new application, and the TGA states it processes applications in 2 to 5 days, longer if it needs more information.
Can my old clinic refuse to give me my records?
Only on narrow grounds. The OAIC lists three situations where a provider can refuse access: where giving it may threaten someone’s life, health or safety, where it may affect someone else’s privacy, or where it would be unlawful. Leaving the clinic is not one of them. The OAIC treats 30 days as a reasonable time to respond.
Can my old clinic charge me for my records?
It can charge for producing them, for example staff time to retrieve the file and the cost of copying and sending it. The OAIC says the charge cannot be excessive and cannot be used to discourage a request.
What is a treatment summary?
A short document, usually a few pages, that sets out your relevant history, what has been tried, what is current and when your next review was due. It is shorter than your full record, and you can ask for both in the same request.
Will I go without while I change clinics?
Starting early lowers the risk of a gap. Book with the new clinic 4 to 6 weeks before your last repeat or the end of your approval, whichever comes first. Ask your current clinic whether your remaining repeats can still be dispensed while the new application is processed, because no official page we read answers that.
Do I need to tell my GP I am changing clinics?
You do not have to, but it helps your GP keep an accurate list of your medicines. Ahpra’s guidance on virtual care asks practitioners, with your consent, to inform other practitioners involved in your care of the treatment they provide.
How much does it cost to change to LeafLine?
Your first appointment with LeafLine as a transferring patient is a transfer consultation at $9. The $9 transfer consultation is for patients who hold a current prescription from another Australian clinic. Your Clinician confirms the prescription at the consultation. If your Clinician cannot confirm a current prescription from another Australian clinic at the consultation, the $9 transfer price does not apply. Your previous clinic sets its own policy on charging for copies of your records.
Ready to get started?
Take the first step. A simple conversation with a Clinician.
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