If a resident requires emergency medical assistance, but they do not call an Emergency Medical Service crew and wish to apply to the admission department of a hospital themselves, or with the assistance of their relatives, the information on health services, which are available and provided in emergency cases at these departments, is important.
In order to receive the certain type of assistance at the medical institution, the medical duty shifts of the respective specialists and appropriate equipment must be available at the hospital. For instance, there are admission departments of hospitals, where the patients may apply, if bone fractures are suspected, meanwhile other admission departments can be visited, if body burns or cut wounds are sustained.
The information on the admission departments of hospitals, where state funded healthcare services are provided, as well as the information on the profile of the assistance provided at these departments has been summarised. See the information here.
What Should be Taken in Consideration?
- It is recommended to contact the admission department, prior to visiting it in order to specify the possibilities of receiving assistance.
- Admission departments of the hospitals do not provide state funded medical assistance in the cases that are not emergencies and involve the receipt of a scheduled service!
Points of urgent medical assistance
Services to patients, who have trauma, acute disease or aggravation of a chronic disease that requires urgent intervention of medical professionals and the required assistance exceeds the scope of competences of a primary healthcare physician are provided at points of urgent medical assistance and trauma ward of Children’s Clinical University Hospital.
If a point of urgent medical assistance is not situated close to the location of the patient, an admission department of a hospital that provides respective services can be applied for. Information on the closest points of urgent medical assistance is available here.
National Health Service
toll-free information hotline: (+371) 80001234
Residents can receive information on state funded healthcare services and the procedure for the receipt thereof by calling the toll-free information hotline of the National Health Service: (+371) 80001234.
Business hours of the toll-free information hotline:
- Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Days before national holidays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
By calling to the toll-free information hotline, the residents can receive the following information:
- what medical services are funded by the state;
- the procedures for the receipt of the state funded health services;
- information on patient fees and categories of people released from patient fees;
- as well as answers to other questions on healthcare that you might be interested in.
Please be warned that due to large number of incoming calls, you might have to wait for the connection with the operator for longer than 10 minutes. You are welcome to learn the information that you are interested in by visiting sections of the website:
- Institutions that provide state funded services (including contact information and the length of queues)
- European health insurance card
- Preventive tests for cancer
- List of reimbursed medications
If you doubt the quality of work performed by a medical institution or a physician (for instance, suspected incorrect or low-quality examinations or therapy), please apply to the Health Inspectorate that implements state management functions in the area of supervision and control of health sector - telephone (+371) 67221244, (+371) 67081611, e-mail: vi@vi.gov.lv.
Consultative phone number of general practitioners: (+371) 66016001
The consultative phone number of general practitioners (+371) 66016001 is medical consultations telephone number planned by the Ministry of Health and organised by the National Health Service. The main objective of this telephone number is to enable the residents to receive medical advice outside the business hours of general practitioners on the issues of minor health problems and diseases that do not require the involvement of the emergency medical service.
E-mail can be used for electronic correspondence with the medics of the consultative phone number of general practitioners, by writing your e-mail messages to medkonsultacija@gmail.com. Due to technical problems, we advise not to use Skype (medkonsultacija) at present, and to select other means of communication to contact our medics.
Business hours of the consultative phone number of general practitioners:
- on business days: 5.00 p.m. - 8.00 a.m.
- at weekends and on holidays: on a 24-hour basis
How much must I pay for a call to consultative phone number of general practitioners?
The consultative phone number of general practitioners (+371) 66016001 is not an increased toll number. When calling from a fixed land line number or a mobile phone, the caller shall pay in accordance with the call tariffs established by their operator to the fixed land line number in Riga area. To determine the cost of the call and whether the tariff offered by the operator includes calls to fixed land line numbers, the caller must address enquiry to their operator.
What must be taken into consideration, when calling to consultative phone number of general practitioners?
- When calling to the consultative phone number of general practitioners (+371) 66016001, medical advice to the residents of Latvia is provided in Latvian, Russian and English.
- Residents from the entire territory of Latvia and from all telecommunication operators may call to the number (+371) 66016001.
- When calling to the consultative phone number of general practitioners, the caller will first hear the statement informing about the telephone line and the statement that your conversation will be recorded. After the statement, the call will be answered by the first free medical professional. If all medics are busy at the moment of calling, the conversation will be forwarded into stand-by mode until any of the medics is free.
- When calling to the consultative phone number of general practitioners, the caller may remain anonymous. If the need to recall arises (if the conversation is interrupted), the medical specialists will ask caller’s information (name, telephone number, location).
The medical specialist of the consultative phone number of general practitioners shall provide medical advice in the event of minor diseases that do not require emergency medical assistance. There can be situations, where the problem of the caller cannot be resolved without the assistance of a general practitioner or a specialist physician, in these cases the medical professional will advise to visit a physician as soon as possible or forward the call to Emergency Medical Service, if the health complaints may endanger health or life.
Emergency medical assistance crew can be summoned by calling on the phone 113.
Physicians on duty (outside business hours of a general practitioner)
In the cases, where it is impossible to visit a general practitioner (outside business hours of general practitioners), but the health condition does not permit delays, physicians on duty are available in Riga and other largest towns. The physicians on duty aid all residents within the area of medicinal institution operation, irrespectively of the general practitioner, with whom the respective patient is registered.
Information on the physicians on duty, sites of their acceptance and business hours is available here.
