General practitioners employed by the NHS will be allowed to "work from the beach" in places as far flung as Australia, India and Malaysia, according to critics of the government's 10-year NHS plan.
The initiative to "free up" GPs is part of a drive by health bosses to recruit overseas GPs to increase productivity and reduce patient waiting times.
It means even more patients will access their GP remotely via a smartphone or computer screen, with British doctors able to work from abroad and overseas doctors joining the service from anywhere in the world, The Telegraph reports.
Critics have described the move as "offshoring people's health to call centres abroad" and pointed out many NHS-trained GPs are still seeking work in the UK.
Shadow health secretary Stuart Andrew said: "The whole idea of a GP is built around continuity and knowing your community, not being thousands of miles away.
"While technology can help improve access, outsourcing care overseas risks turning general practice into a remote call-centre model, which could undermine trust between patient and the doctor as well as the quality of patient care."
The pilot scheme has seen the NHS partner with private firm Asterix Health, which promotes NHS jobs worldwide "without having to relocate" and offers tuition to pass necessary English language tests.
So far, Asterix has employed eight doctors based in Australia, Malaysia, India and the UK, with plans to expand. They are working on behalf of seven GP practices, covering 250,000 patients.
Most doctors using the scheme are reported to be "ex-UK GPs". Supporters claim it is helping retain UK-trained doctors when they would have "left the workforce entirely".
So far, it is the only service with permission to recruit NHS doctors remotely, and it lists a current vacancy for a "remote NHS GP" based in Malaysia. The successful candidate would be responsible for triaging patients, assessing lab results and letters, and carrying out phone consultations.
Candidates are told they can work remotely or from an office in Kuala Lumpur.
The NHS announced its "Fit for the Future 10-Year Plan" last summer with plans to "increase clinical capacity in creative ways" including using doctors working remotely from abroad.
Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the British Medical Association's GP committee, says hundreds of home-grown GPs are "actively seeking NHS work" in the UK.
She said: "The 10-Year Plan for the NHS is heavily reliant on some things which technology and remote working cannot solve. In-person consultations with a fully qualified GP are irreplaceable – there is nothing like being in the room with your patient to provide care."
Coverage of the NHS's 10-Year Plan was largely overshadowed last July as it was revealed on the same day Chancellor Rachel Reeves broke down in tears in the Commons.
The plan is 169 pages long and proposes "opportunities to deploy UK-registered professionals working in other countries to provide remote services to NHS patients".
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: "Our 10-Year Health Plan is shifting healthcare from analogue to digital to make the NHS fit for the future – but GP practices should offer face-to-face appointments to those who want one.
"We've recruited 3000 GPs in the past year, given primary care a £1.1bn funding boost, and rolled out online GP booking requests to ease pressure on services and improve access to appointments. Patient satisfaction with primary care is now rising."
Julian Titz, the chief executive and co-founder of Asterix Health, said: "Primary care is at breaking point. GPs are burnt out and leaving the NHS. Patients struggle to get the care they need, and GP surgeries are desperate for solutions that increase clinical capacity.
"This is what Asterix is doing. We're offering a real solution that enables under-pressure practices to get additional support from professional, highly qualified doctors for clinical tasks. We're not 'offshoring' care – we're bringing NHS-trained doctors back into the system who would otherwise be completely lost to the workforce.
"Rather than replacing face-to-face care, we're allowing GMC-registered professionals to handle the administrative clinical work that currently takes up 50 per cent of a GP's time. This supports UK-based GPs to have more time for face-to-face consultations, and the patients that really need it.
"We're solving the workforce crisis in a way that's been approved by regulators, meets the needs of patients, and helps support the NHS."
An NHS spokesman said: "This is a pilot run by a private company which is not endorsed by NHS England, and we have no plans to roll this out nationally."
