The European Commission has been investigating dedicating specific telephone numbers to services of social value across the EU.
In the Spring the Directorate General of the Commission in charge of telecoms and information technology, DG for Information Society and Media held a consultation on what such services could be, and requested those wishing to run services to apply for the reservation of specific numbers. One of the respondents to this consultation sought to reserve a number for a medical stand-by emergency service.
This service would enable those requiring medical attention to contact a doctor at any hour using the same number throughout the EU - and without adding any burden to the paramedic emergency services.
The application, to reserve the number 116 117 or 116 123, was made by Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Germany. Organisations that may wish organise similar services in other countries can contact Dr. Hans-Joachim Helming of the KVBB for more information.
