During your summer holidays, you can get health advice from the family physician advisory line 1220

The long-awaited holiday period is approaching, but summer can also bring with it a range of health risks. In what circumstances and with what health problems can the family physician advisory line help you?

‘The family physician advisory line 1220 is helpful if a person wants to know whether their health problem should be referred to an emergency medicine department or a family physician, or if it can be resolved at home. The advisory line can also help if a health problem occurs outside the family physician’s working hours, on public holidays, during holidays away from home, or while abroad,’ said Diana Timošova, Head of Primary Health Services at Confido.

According to Confido, in the first five months of this year, 108,336 people have called the family physician advisory line 1220 for help. ‘We helped 69,061 people on weekdays and 39,275 on weekends. People mostly call regarding fevers and viruses (15,200 calls), questions about medicines (15,351), concerns about high or low blood pressure (9,401 calls), and questions about the organisation of the health system (8,926). People also often contact the advisory line for abdominal pain, various muscular aches and pains, and trauma. The number of calls related to mental health has almost doubled compared to last year (2,947 in 2023 and 4,559 in 2024), and there has also been an increase in the number of calls related to medicinal products (11,083 in 2023 and 15,351 in 2024),’ Timošova said.

During the summer, people can call the helpline for advice on how to treat minor injuries and traumas, such as bumps, cuts, and superficial abrasions from falls, as well as skin burns. Allergies, skin rashes, and irritations caused by insect bites are also more common in summer. The medics at 1220 can also provide useful advice on how to relieve those.

Personalised advice is also available if the caller requests it. To do this, you need to authenticate with Mobile-ID or Smart-ID before the call starts. During a personalised consultation, the medics of the family physician advisory line can extend vital prescriptions in an emergency or make an entry into the Health Portal about the need for a certificate of incapacity for work. The service is available between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. on weekends and public holidays. In the first five months of 2024, 3,482 personalised consultations have been carried out. Most of these have been requests for an extension of a prescription, but there have also been reports of the need for a certificate of incapacity for work.

The family physician advisory line answers calls 24/7. Callers can speak both Estonian and Russian. Advice in English is provided every day from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Good to know before calling 1220

• take your temperature or that of the person you are calling about before calling (especially important for young children!) 
• if possible, measure your blood pressure and heart rate and write it down on a piece of paper 
• if you are taking medication, be prepared to give the medic information about it, if necessary 
• keep a pen and paper handy so that you could write down home treatment instructions if necessary 
• keep your identity document handy if possible 
• calls to 1220 are charged at the standard rate for call services and the price is formed based on the tariff of the telephone operator of the caller. For price information, please visit www.1220.ee.