How to choose a paediatrician in Prague
You will need your paediatrician often, and often at short notice. Choose by the journey from home, a contract with your health insurance company and how the practice works; Prague has 258 practices with a paediatrician.
Where to look
Městomat lists 258 practices with a paediatrician across Prague, on a map and by district (městská část), with the address, phone number and contracts with health insurance companies. Start in your own district and the ones next to it.
Straight to the most searched districts:
- Paediatricians in Praha 4
- Paediatricians in Praha 5
- Paediatricians in Praha 6
- Paediatricians in Praha 10
When to start looking
You will take your child to the doctor for regular check-ups as well as with a fever, often without warning. Ideally, choose your paediatrician during pregnancy so you are not searching in a hurry after the birth. After a move you don't have to switch straight away: moving house does not end the registration.
What to look at
- The journey from home. With a sick child you don't want to cross half of Prague. The map shows the practices closest to where you live.
- A contract with your health insurance company. Care covered by insurance is only available from a doctor who has a contract with your health insurance company. Of the 258 Prague practices, 224 have one with VZP.
- How the practice works. Ask about booking appointments, opening hours, separate waiting rooms for sick and healthy children, and how to get through by phone when your child falls ill.
- Other parents' experience from nursery school or the neighbourhood.
Registration
Call or visit the practice you have chosen and arrange it. When the doctor takes you on, you fill in a registration form (registrační list) together and sign it. You can change paediatrician once every three months: simply register your child with the new one, who will request the records from the previous doctor.
When a doctor may turn you down
The Health Services Act (zákon o zdravotních službách, No. 372/2011 Coll., Section 48) allows a doctor to refuse a new patient only if:
- taking you on would exceed their reasonable workload (the practice is full),
- you live so far away that they could not manage home visits,
- they have no contract with your health insurance company.
They must give you the reason for refusing in writing. If no one will take you on, contact your health insurance company: it must make care available to its policyholders and will help you find a doctor.
From 14 to 19
A child can stay with their paediatrician until 19 at the latest; the registration ends in the month they turn 19. An adult GP may register teenagers from the age of 14, but does not have to. It pays to plan the move ahead; see the guide How to find a GP in Prague.
The dentist from an early age
Children need their own registration with the dentist; the paediatrician does not cover dental care. Children are entitled to preventive dental check-ups twice yearly; the guide Dentist in Prague explains how to find one.
Frequently asked questions
Up to what age does a child see a paediatrician?
A paediatrician (praktický lékař pro děti a dorost) can care for a child until the age of 19 at most; the registration ends in the month the child turns 19. An adult GP may register patients from the age of 14, but does not have to.
How many paediatricians in Prague have a contract with VZP?
Of the 258 practices with a paediatrician in Prague, 224 have a contract with VZP for this speciality. For every practice, Městomat also shows its contracts with ČPZP and VoZP.
How often can I change my child's paediatrician?
Once every three months. Simply register your child with the new doctor; they will request the medical records from the previous one.
Can a paediatrician turn us down?
Only on legal grounds: if taking you on would exceed their reasonable workload, if you live so far away that they could not manage home visits, or if they have no contract with your health insurance company. They must give you the reason in writing.