Emergency Doctor

Emergency medical care

The Emergency Doctor is a doctor who acts in emergency cases. Patients with complaints that cannot wait until the following day may visit the After Hours Medical Clinic after calling the triage nurse.

Telephone first

If you call 020-4562000, you will get through to one of our triage nurses. These are doctors’ assistants or nurses who have completed additional training on how to determine the urgency of medical enquiries. The triage nurse will ask you to give your:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Date of birth

If your life is in danger, the triage nurse will call an ambulance immediately or send an emergency doctor. In all other cases, the triage nurses will then ask for:

• The name of your doctor
• The name of any medication you take
• Your temperature (in case of suspected fever)
• Your insurance details and policy number
• More details about your complaint and enquiry

The triage nurse will assess your complaint initially. The assessment will take place on the basis of protocols and guidelines, which have been substantiated by scientific research. Based on your request for help, the triage nurse will decide to take one of the following actions:

• Provide advice him/herself. The calls that are dealt with independently by the triage nurse are assessed, discussed and authorised by the doctor in attendance at a later stage.
• Discuss with or put you through to the doctor in attendance, or he/she will call you back.
• Arrange an appointment for a visit to the clinic.
• Arrange for a doctor to visit you.
• Refer you to your own GP.            

Home visit

The emergency doctor visits patients at home if they are unable to attend the After Hours Medical Clinic for medical reasons. For such visits, the emergency doctor has access to a fully equipped and modified Meditaxi car. The emergency doctor is always assisted by a driver during such visits. These drivers have followed training on how to assist doctors and drive them to patients as quickly as possible.

Transport

If possible, you should make your own way to the After Hours Medical Clinic. The emergency doctor visits patients at home if they are unable to attend the After Hours Medical Clinic for medical reasons. The assistant assesses, possibly together with the doctor, whether a house visit will be made. The opportunities for investigating and treating complaints at the medical centre are better. A house visit is not intended for people who do not have the time or transport to get to the medical centre. Do you not have transport? Then you might be able to call on a family member, neighbour or friend; or call a taxi.

Medication

It may be that you are prescribed medicine during a visit to the medical centre or a home visit. You may collect this medication until 11pm in the evening or at the weekend from Amstelland Duty Pharmacy, located next to the medical centre. At night, when the duty pharmacy is closed, medication will be delivered to your door. In principle, the After Hours Medical Clinic does not provide repeat prescriptions.