High fever, acute abdominal pains, diarrhoea are conditions for which doctors will also see patients during the night time. To obtain the doctor’s advice you should visit a clinic offering medical care during the night and during holidays.
You can come to outpatient clinics where doctors are on call Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., and round the clock on Saturdays and Sundays. Information, including the address and telephone number of the facility where you can receive medical care during the night and during holidays, should be on display in every primary care outpatient clinic. It is also available on the websites of the regional branch offices of the National Health Fund.
VISIT TO THE DOCTOR’S SURGERY, A HOME VISIT OR AN AMBULANCE CALL
When is it possible for you to go to the doctors who are currently on call? In every case of sudden illness, i.e. high fever, acute sore throat, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea. Also, procedures recommended by a doctor that cannot be postponed are an indication for night and holiday medical care. You can also visit such clinics away from the place where you are registered for residence.
People who are unable to reach a 24-hour-care clinic can benefit from emergency medical and nursing services. Should the need arise, you can phone to ask for a home visit. The continuation of care and nursing procedures, such as injections, change of dressing, will be provided by means of the emergency nursing services.
Night and holiday medical care will not replace hospital emergency rooms, which is why in the situation of emergency medical conditions you should call an ambulance. You can do this by dialling 999 or 112. This applies to such cases as loss of consciousness, accident injuries, sudden dyspnoea, delivery and medical problems related to pregnancy.
THE PLANNED CHANGES
From 2014 the National Health Fund is introducing changes to the rules of the functioning of night and holiday health care. Among other changes, the Fund wants to pay additional amounts for the presence of paediatricians who will be part of the teams of doctors on duty in 24-hour-care clinics. It also expects that night and holiday medical care will guarantee access to diagnostic and X-ray examinations. Andrzej Troszyński, Patients’ Rights Advocate, highlights the fact that the providers of medical care services will also have to have equipment for registering the telephone calls of the patients.
Comments (0)