As explained under General Practitioner, your GP is usually the first person to contact in the event of illness. If you fall ill and need to see a doctor outside your GP´s opening hours, you must call the regional emergency doctor service. In an emergency, e.g. if someone has collapsed, is suffocating or has been involved an accident and is badly hurt, you must call the emergency call centre. Note that in an emergency, you are not required to go via your GP.

If you need to see a doctor within normal opening hours – weekdays between 08.00 and 16.00 – contact your General Practitioner.

If you need to see a doctor outside normal opening hours – after 16.00, at weekends and on public holidays – you must call the emergency doctor service. You should, however, only use the emergency doctor service when absolutely necessary, or if you are in doubt as to how sick your child may be.

In Danish the emergency doctor service is called Lægevagten and a doctor on call is a Vagtlæge

When you call the emergency doctor service you will be asked for your CPR number, or if you are calling on behalf of someone else the CPR number of the person concerned. The doctor on call will ask how you or the person on whose behalf you are calling is feeling. Typical questions you may be asked include: “Do you have a fever?” and “Are you experiencing pain?” If you have been injured, the doctor will ask you questions to help determine the extent and seriousness of the injury.

Based on the answers you give, the doctor will determine whether a doctor should be sent to your home, whether you should visit your GP the next day, or whether you should go to the emergency medical clinic or a hospital.

When you call the emergency doctor service, it is a good idea to:

• Have your health insurance card ready (Remember you must also have your health insurance card with you when you attend an emergency medical clinic, your GP or a hospital.
• Have a list of any medicines you are using or usually use.
• Have taken your temperature if you suspect that you have a fever.

In an emergency, e.g. if someone has collapsed, is suffocating or has been involved an accident and is badly hurt, call the emergency call centre on telephone 112. When you call 112 you will be asked to state your name and the address and telephone number from which you are calling. You will also be asked to explain the circumstances about which you are calling. The call centre will then ensure that the necessary help is dispatched immediately.

If you live in the Central Denmark Region and need to contact an emergency doctor, call +45 70 11 31 31. The telephone number is the same, regardless of from where in the region you are calling. Exceptions to this are the islands of Anholt and Endelave, where you must contact the island doctor.

If the doctor on call decides that you should come in for a personal consultation, he/she will refer you to one of the region’s 12 emergency medical consultations, depending on which is closet to your address. In the Central Denmark Region the emergency medical service has after-hours medical consultations at the hospitals in Horsens, Aarhus, Randers, Viborg, Silkeborg, Herning, Holstebro and Skive. Emergancy medical stations are also open during certain periods at the hospitals in Tarm, Ringkøbing, Lemvig and Grenaa.

Note that you are responsible for transport to and from the emergency medical station.

In Aarhus, the after hour doctor consultation is located at:

Lægevagten,
Aarhus Universitetshospital, Aarhus Sygehus
Nørrebrogade 44, Building. 02A, Ground Floor.
8000 Arhus C

You can find the address of the other hospitals in the Central Denmark Region that have after hour doctor consultations at sundhed.dk. On the bottom of the page to the left('Akut hjælp'), you find a list of links that will direct you to a site containing the contact information of the regional hospital (Regionshospital), where there are after-hour doctor consultations.

Remember: You must call the emergency medical service, before you go for a consultation.

The number of emergency doctor service depends on which region you live in.

You will find the telephone number for the emergency doctor service in the region in which you live on you municipal authority’s website, in the telephone dictionary or on the website www.sundhed.dk. Note that the information on the different websites is often only available in Danish. Thus, make sure that you find the number for the emergency doctor service , before you are in a situation when you need it. You can also look up the number on www.dgs.dk, by entering lægevagten in the Hvad/What search field, and click søg. The contact information of the different emergency doctor services in Denmark should then be displayed.

Remember: You must call the emergency doctor service, before you go for a consultation.