From 2026, new rules for medical on-call services will apply in the Czech Republic. A regulation issued by the Ministry of Health sets uniform minimum opening hours and transfers responsibility for organisation and financing from the regions to the health insurance companies.
Emergency care in the Czech Republic is being reorganised: from next year, all on-call services in the country will be required to adhere to uniform minimum operating hours. This is stipulated in a new regulation issued by the Ministry of Health, which links emergency services more closely to the infrastructure of the so-called ‘Urgentní příjmy’, i.e., emergency departments.
According to the news channel ČT24, on-call services are to remain open for at least three hours after regular practice hours on weekdays and for eight hours on weekends and public holidays. In most regions, this is already standard practice – only two districts have expressed concerns about this requirement.
Insurance Companies, Not Regions, Will Be Responsible
A key point of the reform is the change in responsibility: in future, health insurance companies, rather than the regions, will be responsible for the staffing and operation of emergency services. The Ministry of Health hopes this will lead to greater transparency for patients and more reliable staffing. Critics, on the other hand, warn of a possible decline in accessibility, especially in rural areas.
At the same time, the reform aims to help prevent misuse: emergency services are often used for cases that are not acute.
The regulation also governs the opening hours for paediatric and dental emergency services. Paediatric on-call services are to be established in hospitals with paediatric wards in future – with the same operating hours as for adults: at least three hours between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. on weekdays and eight hours on weekends, preferably between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Dental emergency services must be open for at least four hours on weekends and public holidays – between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Here too, responsibility lies with the health insurance companies.
