Continuation and Strengthening of the Social Polyclinic of Doctors of the World in Thessaloniki with the integration of a Mobile Health Unit with code MIS 6001344

The Social Polyclinic of Doctors of the World started its operation in Thessaloniki in 2001 with the primary objective of providing primary health care services, psychosocial support and emergency assistance to vulnerable social groups without discrimination, who face difficulties in accessing the public health system. It is located at 29A Ptolemaion Street (inside the lodge) and operates 5 days a week, weekdays 08.00-16.00.

The Doctors of the World Polyclinic aims to protect the health of individuals, parents and children who face the risk of social deprivation or live in conditions of poverty and housing insecurity through the provision of an integrated package of medical-social services. More specifically, the beneficiaries of MdM’s Open Polyclinic are primarily the citizens of the Metropolitan Thessaloniki area and all persons seeking medical and social services in the wider area of the Prefecture of Thessaloniki who face serious socio-economic problems such as long-term unemployment, lack of income, precarious living conditions, lack of access or limited access to health services. Beneficiaries also include children living on the street, in shelters and child protection institutions or in precarious and temporary accommodation.

Doctors of the World, following a holistic intervention that includes preventive care services, sexual and reproductive health, family planning, paediatric screening, vaccination coverage as well as social services, try to preserve the timely access of people facing poverty and lack of income to quality health services and in this way prevent the burden of their health situation and the impact of social exclusion on their development.

At the same time, one (1) mobile health unit extends the service delivery capabilities of the Polyclinic of Thessaloniki, outreaching areas and communities where homeless population, Roma population groups, people using intravenous psychoactive substances and other “key populations” for public health are identified and performs health care operations, prevention, diagnosis of infectious diseases and immediate assistance, linking these groups with the fixed services of the Polyclinic, while at the same time providing them with housing, social care, integration into treatment programmes and the National Health System. The Mobile Health Unit is also used for visits to all the municipalities of Central Macedonia for health prevention, awareness and information activities and mass vaccination coverage both to the general population and to beneficiaries of social protection structures, municipal social services and school units. At the level of preparedness and response to emergency and urgent situations, the Mobile Health Unit can assist with the required staffing to provide immediate assistance and relief to the affected communities.

Objective of the project

The objective is to continue providing primary health care and psychosocial support services, through the strengthening, expansion of the services already provided to the target groups and the integration of a mobile health unit. The basic services will be as follows:

• Provision of medical care with a general practitioner, dermatologist, gynaecologist, paediatrician, psychiatrist and nursing staff
• Provision of psychosocial support services with social workers and a psychologist
• Providing medical care, prevention and health promotion through a mobile medical unit
• Provide case management, liaison and social inclusion services where required, in collaboration and complementarity with local agencies of the National Health and Social Protection System

Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries belong to socially vulnerable groups such as the poor, the long-term unemployed, the uninsured, the elderly, mothers and children, people in income poverty, Roma, foreign population with difficulties in accessing health services and social care, etc. of the Metropolitan area of Thessaloniki and with the integration of the mobile health unit, for the entire prefecture of Thessaloniki.

The Project “Continuation and Strengthening of the Social Polyclinic of Doctors of the World in Thessaloniki with the integration of a Medical Mobile Unit”, MIS code 6001344 , is implemented in the framework of the “Central Macedonia” Programme 2021-2027, funded by Greece and the European Union.