Extended Hours for Some GPs Possible From 2014
Responding to a call from emergency paramedics for longer hours at family wellness centers, the Social Affairs Ministry says such evening GPs are in the works for 2014.
The ministry's health care department director Heli Paluste said the move would not oblige general practitioners to be at work at all times, but encourage some doctors in solo practices to partner up and form larger clinics.
The program will be funded from the EU Structural Funds in the 2004-2020 period.
Paluste said family doctors could currently be signed to voluntary agreements for providing medical care outside of ordinary business hours, but this had not been done yet.
Paluste said an alternative to the new type of GP center was to establish an additional co-pay if a patient went to an emergency room with a problem that their GP should be able to resolve.
Kristopher Rikken