Medical services

The way you can make use of the medical care depends on the type of health insurance you have (public or commercial) and the particular health insurance company the medical service has a contract with. In any case, it is good to know who your general practitioner (GP) is and if the doctor speaks English, what the opening hours are and if s/he can accept you (some doctors do not accept new patients, especially dentists). If in trouble, ask for assistance from your health insurance company.  

Obviously nobody can stay without help. There is a 24 hour Emergency Service for injuries and urgent cases in The Municipal Hospital of Ostrava that will accept you if your case is really urgent. With less urgent cases you can find a specialist or consult your GP first.

Also, some employers have their own “Company” doctor who works in the role of a GP. If you are or will be employed, please check this option. In the Czech Republic, there is a system of electronic prescriptions that can be sent to you via SMS or e-mail and you collect them at the pharmacy. This makes things easier, so in many cases when a repeat prescription is needed you may simply send your doctor an email and you do not have to go to their office. Also, sick leave is now on an electronic basis.

NB: For EU citizens in the first 90 days of their stay the necessary emergency care is free of charge (covered by EU health insurance). For all other cases health insurance is inevitable and required by law.

Any time, 24 hours a day, if you have a serious emergency (that may even be life-threatening) please call 112. It is the European Emergency Number and the operators speak English. They will send you an ambulance with medical help and mobile life-saving devices. You will get an examination on the spot, first aid treatment and, if it is necessary, you will be taken to the hospital. 

Urgency does not necessarily mean Emergency. In Emergency situations, life is directly in danger. So it should not be used when you can visit a GP, or a specialist or use urgent care outside working hours.

If you have an illness or an injury that is too serious to be dealt with by your GP the next morning (or after the weekend is over), but not serious enough to call an ambulance, you should go for “Urgent care”. See Urgent care hospital below.

Urgent care operates Monday to Friday 5 pm to 10 pm, and on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 8 am to 8 pm. For Urgent Care, there is a direct regulation fee of CZK 90 per patient of all ages. 

During normal working hours (on weekdays from 7 am to 5 pm), you should first go to your GP if you require urgent care. GPs usually reserve early morning hours for urgent cases and later in the afternoon they reserve time for planned preventive measures. If you have an infectious disease with discharge from your nose, sneezing and/or coughing, a high temperature or think you might have a contagious disease, call your doctor first and do not go there in person.

• The Municipal Hospital of Ostrava (Městská nemocnice Ostrava). The Emergency operates 24/7. Besides the Emergency, Urgent care for adults, Urological and Gynecological Urgent care are provided on an ongoing basis, while ORL and Ophthalmological Urgent Care alternates with the University Hospital in Poruba FNO.
• For children up to the age of 18 the patients should be brought to the the University Hospital in Poruba. The office is on the ground floor on the right side.
• The University Hospital (“Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava”, aka FNO) provides highly specialised Emergency Services 24/7 especially for polytraumatic emergencies. ORL and Ophthalmological Urgent Care is provided, and the service is coordinated with the Municipal Hospital, so if you need an ophthalmologist over the weekend or at night, it is better to ask first which of the two hospitals is in charge.
• Every evening, on weekends and public holidays the dental emergency service is available. The medical dental emergency service is provided by AJNA dental clinic s.r.o. in Závodní 2885/86, 703 00 Ostrava–Vítkovice. On weekdays the dental emergency is open from 6 pm to 6 am, and on weekends and public holidays the dentists are available 24 hours a day. Urgent Care fee: CZK 90. Please do not abuse the service as it is by no means meant to replace regular and systematic care. The dentists attend only to unexpectedly painful cases, not to cavities one has been ignoring for days or even weeks.

You are free to choose your General Practitioner and Specialists as long as the doctors accept new patients and they have signed a contract with your Health Insurance Company. Exceptionally, i.e. in urgent, essential and emergency cases, your Insurance House will reimburse your treatment also to doctors who do not have a contract with the Insurance Company, but this does not apply to regular treatment. It is recommended to contact your Health Insurance Company and ask for a list of doctors in your area.

If you are insured under the Public Health Insurance system, visits to GP and specialists are free of charge, but please make sure that the GP/specialist has a contract with your Health Insurance Company.

If you are insured under the Commercial Health Insurance system or International Insurance Provider which does not have an office in the Czech Republic, you will have to pay the doctor in cash. S/he will give you a bill and your Insurance Provider will reimburse your bills later.

Also some dentists operate fully outside any Health Insurance plan and you will have to cover all the received care if you choose their services. So it is wise to “open your mouth and ask about the conditions” before you open your mouth for the treatment. Preventive dental check-ups twice a year and routine treatment (e.g. dental fillings, or an x-ray once every two years) are covered by health insurance. For using non-standard materials for fillings, such as white fillings, having a tooth capped etc., you will have to pay extra. This also applies to Czechs, the rules do not differ.

NB: There is a small fee required to pay no matter what your insurance is e.g. the regulation fee (CZK 90) for urgent or emergency health care. Also, some medicaments, administrative tasks, and special vaccinations are not fully covered and you will have to cover a part or all of the prescription.

In the Czech Republic the vaccination of children is compulsory and if you bring your children for a period longer than 3 months it is your obligation to follow the Czech Law regarding the vaccination of children. The Czech Law states that every child has to be vaccinated for the following diseases (sometimes the vaccinations are in a compound form with others and have to be repeated): Diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae B, Measles, Mumps, Polio, Rubella, Tetanus, Viral hepatitis B, Whooping cough and, for children at risk, also TBC, all within 4 – 6 weeks after they are born.

All the above mentioned vaccines are free, i.e. the price of the vaccine is fully covered by the Government. The Internationals pay for the administration and the injection (approx. CZK 300). If you have Czech public health insurance, the injections administration is for free as well.

Regarding the vaccination plan, the Pediatrician has to meet the legal requirements of both the Czech Republic and your home country. So if your home country has another compulsory vaccination, the Czech GP will apply it to your child. But such a vaccination will have to be paid extra.

Online consultation with a doctor is available for all clients of PVZP that have arranged foreigners’ medical insurance (Commercial Health Insurance) for free. Please see the video below.

In Ostrava the pharmacies (= Lékárna) with the longest opening hours are to be found in Shopping Centres (9 am – 9 pm every day with the exception of some public holidays). The non-stop “Urgent Care Pharmacies” opened  24/7 will only operate on a limited scale at nights, during weekends and public holidays. Their service will be limited solely to attend to the prescriptions brought by you from the “Urgent Care” specialists. For that service they usually require you to use a different entrance than on weekdays, so please do not be surprised.

= Poliklinika, Zdravotní středisko, “Ambulance”

NB: The word Ambulance in Czech will be most probably used for an Outpatient Doctor’s Office. The Ambulance as a specialised vehicle is referred to as “sanitka” in Czech. Please see the list of specialists below.