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Luxembourg's Ministry of Health has announced that two new on-call medical centres will be opening their doors at the end of summer 2021.
In order to strengthen primary care, a major pillar of the Luxembourg health system, the Ministry of Health has designated the future sites for two new on-call medical centres in the centre and south of the country, which will replace the existing structures.
Minister of Health Paulette Lenert explained: “The establishment of future on-call medical centres marks a big step forward in improving the primary care offer and I particularly appreciate the close collaboration to this end with the Association des médecins et médecins-dentistes (AMMD) and the Cercle des médecins-généralistes (CMG), Their support is essential if we wish to set up a health system capable of facing the challenges of modern medicine and which corresponds to the needs of our patients".
Luxembourg currently has three such medical centres which ensure permanent primary care: one on Rue Michel Welter in Luxembourg-City, another on Rue Émile Mayrisch in Esch-sur-Alzette and a third on Avenue Lucien Salentiny in Ettelbruck. These centres allow patients to have access to a consultation outside the opening hours of general practitioners' offices (i.e. at night, weekends and public holidays).
The existing on-call medical centres were set up in December 2010 and are deemed no longer adapted to the management of the growing number of patients, in both normal and crisis times. The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the limits of the concept around which these medical centres were designed, for instance waiting and consultation spaces which are too small to ensure physical distancing.
The new sites take into account the requirements of the strategic plan to develop new on-call medical centres, aimed at improving care, the patient experience and compliance with new health requirements. This new concept is expected to offer, if necessary, additional and multidisciplinary services to better meet the needs of the population, larger and more spacious areas and better accessibility by car and public transport.
The new structures will be able to accommodate patients as part of permanent care in general medicine, as well as patients on separate channels requiring specific care, for example those showing symptoms of COVID-19. They will be flexible according to health needs and are expected to become a strategic link in the organisation of primary care in Luxembourg.
Development work began in January 2021, with a total investment estimated at €5 million. The opening of the two on-call medical centres is scheduled for late August to early September this year.
The new medical centre in the centre of the country will be located at 23 Val Fleuri L-1526 Luxembourg, within walking distance of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL). It will have a total area of around 1,000 m2.
In the south of the country, the new medical centre will be located on Avenue du Swing, Southlane Tower, Belval-Sanem, close to the University of Luxembourg, the Esch-Belval train station and the future Südspidol hospital. It will have a total area of around 700 m2.
Active searches to find a suitable new site for the northern region of the country, as well as an additional offer in the east, are also underway.
