Primary care

Registration in the National Healthcare System and choosing/changing your Family Doctor/Paediatrician

Family doctors and paediatricians are the professionals who deal with primary care (general medical examinations, prescribing drugs and specialized or diagnostic exams).

You can choose your Family Doctor and Paediatrician when you register in the National Healthcare System ("SSN") at the Local Health Agency ("ASL") of the area where you live.

Everyone who is registered in the SSN can choose a Family Doctor.

The paediatrician deals with children up to 14 or 16 years of age, in specific cases.

You can register in the National Healthcare System ("SSN") if you have a residence permit. Your family doctor's choice is valid for the duration of your residence permit.

If you don't have a residence permit (STP and ENI) you can access free generic healthcare through occasional consultations at family doctors' offices or specific clinics within the Healthcare Agencies ("ASL").

When you choose your doctor, you will be given information (also available on the ASL website) on where and when your doctor/paediatrician visits patients, his phone number, how to ask for a consultation at home or which doctors you can call in his absence.

Changing your family doctor/paediatrician

If you don't trust your family doctor/paediatrician anymore, you can change him according to the following modalities:

• sul portale OpenToscana accedendo al servizio CAMBIO MEDICO
• Toscana Salute App
• at PuntoSi Totems
• other modalities (e-mail, health registry offices) available on Healthcare Agencies' websites

Continuity of care service (out-of-hours doctors)

When your doctor/paediatrician is not available and you cannot wait, you can access this service if you have health problems at night, on non-working days or days before public holidays, without going to the Emergency Unit, if it is not urgent.

The service is available:

• at night: from 08:00 pm to 08:00 am
• on non-working days and days before public holidays: from Saturday 8:00 am to Monday 8:00 am
• on public holidays during the week: from the day before the public holiday 10:00 am until the first working day 8:00 am

Out-of-hours doctors can:

• offer consultations that cannot be postponed at home or at their office
• prescribe drugs for therapies that cannot be postponed or drugs to carry on therapies whose interruption could worsen the patient's condition
• write medical certificates for your sick leaves when it is strictly necessary and for a maximum period of 3 days
• ask for hospitalization.

Out-of-hours doctors cannot:

• prescribe exams or specialized examinations
• accept patients in emergency urgency situations for which patients must call the single EU emergency number 112

Out-of-hours doctors evaluate your needs and can give you suggestions via phone call, consultation at their office (if possible) or at home.

The doctor is responsible for evaluating if it is necessary to visit you at home, according to national and/or regional guidelines.

Access modalities

You can access this service by calling a specific phone number that you can find at your referring ASL.