By the end of February, work should be completed on the ordinance of the president of the National Health Fund regarding night and holiday medical care. Thanks to the changes, patients will be able to benefit from medical advice in additional facilities – informs the National Health Fund.
The obligation of zoning is to be abolished, patients will be able to choose a clinic where they want to use night and holiday medical assistance. According to the National Health Fund, additional patient admission points are to be launched depending on the needs and local conditions. In the opinion of the Fund, the changes are to contribute to reducing the distance from the patient’s place of residence to the clinic where he will receive medical advice.
The National Health Fund emphasizes that competition procedures are currently underway to select healthcare providers who will provide night and holiday medical assistance. Details will be known in early March.
The spokeswoman for the Masovian National Health Fund, Wanda Pawłowicz, informed PAP that additional points will be launched in Warsaw, inter alia, in the districts of: Praga Południe, Włochy, Ursus, Mokotów, Rembertów, and Wesoła.
Meanwhile, from some voivodeships (including Śląskie, Opolskie and Zachodniopomorskie) there is information about the planned reduction in the number of clinics providing night and holiday medical assistance.
After the working hours of Primary Healthcare facilities, medical services are provided in the form of night and holiday outpatient care as well as outpatient medical and nursing care.
As the National Health Fund informs, the benefits should be used in the event of a sudden illness or sudden deterioration of health, as well as in connection with the need to maintain continuity of treatment (treatments ordered by a doctor, performed in clinics). Advice is provided from Monday to Friday from 18 to 8 the next day and XNUMX hours a day on Saturdays, Sundays and other public holidays.
The clinic may provide this type of care on its own or use the services of another facility. Information on which medical clinics provides patients with night and holiday medical and nursing care services should be displayed in a visible place.
Holiday medical care does not apply in cases of imminent life-threatening conditions, in particular in the case of: loss of consciousness, falls from heights, fractures, traffic accidents, sudden disturbances of consciousness, accidental injuries arising in emergency situations, sudden dyspnea, electric shock, childbirth and ailments related to pregnancy.
In such situations, you should go to a hospital emergency department or call an ambulance (999, 112).
The Emergency Department is intended for patients requiring emergency care and is not a substitute for a primary care physician or specialist clinic.
The ambulance service can be called when our or someone else’s life is in danger. The dispatcher receiving the report will assess whether the patient’s health condition requires sending an ambulance or a referral to holiday or night outbound or outpatient care.
Holiday care services and the emergency department should not be used to obtain: a control visit in connection with previously started treatment, a prescription for constantly used medications in connection with a chronic disease, a routine health certificate, referral to a specialist. (PAP)