LUZ 24 – the Hospital da Luz network open-access clinical screening phone line, operating through the national land-line 217 104 424 – is celebrating its 4 th anniversary and has reinforced the offer of services. Whoever resorts to LUZ 24, Hospital da Luz clients or not, besides counselling with their urgent health issues, have now also the possibility of requesting transportation to any Hospital da Luz Emergency Service, either by ambulance or by vehicle dedicated for patient transporting. On LUZ 24, many Portuguese have been able to get counselling and solution for their immediate health problems. This is an open-access service operating 24 hours/day, 365 days/year. It is ensured by a team of nurses working on the basis of over a hundred strict clinical protocols, defined according to the best international practise. On each case, LUZ 24 gives counselling and refers the patient to the most adequate healthcare, namely: Urgent assistance by the clinical professionals of a Hospital da Luz unit (which will already have the information from LUZ 24 on the arrival of the patient); Urgent video consultation immediately after the LUZ 24 screening and with no need of scheduling; Priority consultation being held in the next 48 hours; Programmed consultation or video consultation in any speciality; Self-care. Therefore, the LUZ 24 service continues to be a service of unique value proposition in the sector of Health: this way, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Portuguese can get immediate healthcare.
