Health Care System in the Czech Republic
In this part of the Prague for All website we explain the basis of the Czech health care, the importance of having your own general practicioner (and other doctors), the system of health care for pregnant foreigners and children of foreigners, as well as the rules of health insurance.
- Doctor’s appointments and preventive care
- Urgent medical care
- Emergency medical service – 112 telephone line
- Prague hospitals specialized in providing care to foreigners
- Health care for foreign pregnant women and newborns, insurance, preventive check-ups for children
Doctor’s appointments and preventive care
Everyone, including foreigners, should be registered with a GP. Register with a GP as soon as possible, so that you know who to contact if you need medical help. In the Czech Republic, both men and women see a GP for regular preventive check-ups which are covered by public health insurance.
If necessary, your GP will issue you a referral to a specialist (such as neurologist, urologist, diabetologist, etc.). There are also specialists you can see without a referral from the GP (e.g. a dentist, gynaecologist, dermatologist, ENT or ophthalmologist).
It is important to go to regular medical check-ups to a specialist, too. You can schedule a dental check-up twice a year. Women also have to see their gynecologist (usually once a year).
In the Czech Republic we put a lot of emphasis on primary preventive health care as it helps prevent acute health problems.
Children go to medical check-ups to a pediatrician. Adults are legally obliged to ensure that children receive regular medical care from a paediatrician.
To be able to see specialists, it is necessary to register with them. However, specialized doctors such as stomatologists and gynaecologists may not accept you due to full capacity.
If you need help looking for a suitable doctor, use social counselling provided by integration centers and nongovernmental non-profit organisations. If you have commercial health insurance, your health insurance company will provide you with a list of contractual doctors.
Urgent Medical Care
If you have a sudden health issue that isn’t life-threatening, you may use urgent medical care.
These situations include upper and lower respiratory tract infections, fever, tonsillitis, urinary tract infections, etc.
Serious injuries and fractures are dealt with at hospital trauma emergency rooms.
If you have dental problems, you don’t have to wait in pain either. You can seek dental emergency care for acute inflammation, problems with wisdom teeth or complications that arose after a previous dental procedure.
These types of emergencies are also availabe for pediatric patients.
Urgent care is available outside normal doctors’ surgery hours, i.e. in the evenings or on weekends. Most emergency rooms are located at hospitals.
To be able to go to access urgent care, you need to pay a regulatory fee.
A list of Prague emergency rooms is available here.
Learn where the local emergency room closest to your home is, so that you can get yourself or your child there quickly in an emergency.
Emergency medical service – 112 telephone line
If you find yourself or someone else in a serious, life-threatening emergency, it is necessary to call for help.
This includes severe injury, impaired consciousness, respiratory disstress, poisoning, allergies or other health conditions that can lead to long-term or permanent consequences, or even sudden death.
It is a legal duty of everyone, foreigners and citizens of the Czech Republic alike, to help and call for help if someone’s life is in danger.
If you find yourself in a serious, life-threatening emergency, call the emergency line 112. This is a universal European number for an ambulance, the fire brigade and the police. Calling 112 is possible from any mobile phone even without a SIM card or a prepaid credit. Operators speak foreign languages and you can call from places where signal would be too week for an ordinary call.
Make sure to avoid unnecessary calls to the emergency line! Calling the emergency number for unjustified reasons may result in a fine. We therefore recommend that you reread in what situation we use urgent medical care and in what situation we call the emergency line in the Czech Republic. This may differ significantly from the practice in your country!
In life-threatening situations, everyone is treated even without health insurance, but the amount owed is recovered retroactively.
Anyone in a life-threatening situation gets treatment even without medical insurance. However, the amount due is collected afterwards.