New Health Service Line to Be Created in Slovakia

Bratislava, March 27 (TASR) - A new health service telephone line will be created in Slovakia and will be operated under the Emergency Health Service Operational Centre, Parliament decided in a fast-tracked procedure on Thursday. Established for non-urgent medical problems, the new line 116117 is designed to help ease the burden on emergency line 155. The 116117 line will serve for addressing less urgent health problems that don't require immediate first-aid response, for instance, consultations regarding callers' health condition, recommendations as to where to find a suitable health facility and an organisation of planned inter-hospital transports. "The growing number of calls to the emergency hotline number 155, the growing number of call-outs and the overburdening of the system with non-emergencies has caused a gradual decrease in the availability of the emergency health service. The proposed bill will introduce several measures aimed to stabilize the system of emergency health service and ensure its sustainability," reads the proposal submitted by the Health Ministry. According to the ministry, about 20 percent of 155 hotline reports are assessed as not urgent enough to warrant a call-out. The bill is supposed to come into effect as of April 15. mf