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Luxembourg's Ministry of Health has announced the establishment of an out-of-hours medical service in aid and care centres.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the Cabinet approved a pilot project to set up a continuous medical service available in evenings and at night, on weekends and during public holidays. This follows a positive assessment of a third line of response ("guard line 3"), which formed part of the organisation of the health system during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided medical care (including an on-call doctor) withing various institutions.
The ministry stated that the 24/7 availability of doctors has contributed to the reduction in the number of hospitalisations and visits to outpatient clinics, as well as to the development of continuous and personalised medical care within aid and care centres. According to the ministry, the care system put in place also contributed to the low mortality rate in Luxembourg compared to neighbouring countries, especially Belgium and France.
Guard line 3 currently operates 24/7 and covers both in-person visits and teleconsultations.
The aims of this pilot project are to ensure the sustainability of the care system put in place during the coronavirus-related health crisis, better coordination and medical organisation to improve the quality of care, as well as improved continuity of care, thus avoiding unnecessary hospitalisations.
This system will be applied from 1 September 2020 until 31 August 2022 and will be provided by general practitioners. It will be organized by the doctors and dentists' association AMMD (Association des Médecins et Médecins-dentistes) with the collaboration and financial support of the state.
