Senior Citizen’s Line

800 20 35 31 (toll-free telephone number)

On workdays, at 9:30am to 17:30pm

(There is a voice mail system outsider these hours)

What is it for?

The Older Person’s Hotline is a free phone line specially geared towards the problems of the older population, providing information on the rights and support that older people enjoy, particularly in areas such as health, social security, housing, facilities and services.

How does it work?

The Ombudsman’s staff provide a personalised service and, informally and quickly, provide the clarification required and, if the case warrants it, can refer the situation to the competent authorities (for example, the Social Security Institute, I.P.) and contact the relevant institutions (such as health establishments).

To illustrate how the Senior Citizen Line works, let’s look at these two cases:

Case 1
A relative of a 93-year-old citizen contacted the Helpline because he was concerned about the fact that the elderly man – suffering from clinically diagnosed dementia – lived alone, in isolation and away from his family. It was also reported that the elderly man benefited from home help, but this was insufficient, especially to ensure that his medication was taken on time. We contacted the relevant Social Security department and the elderly person was then referred to the National Network for Integrated Continuing Care, in the form of carer’s respite, which also ensured that he would be monitored after his discharge.

Case 2
An 82-year-old citizen contacted the Older People Hotline complaining about the difficulty he had in obtaining the medical prescription needed for ambulance transport to an appointment, which had not been given to him by the doctor who had instead referred him to hospital. The elderly man travelled in a wheelchair, was exempt from paying user charges and, in his various attempts to contact the hospital by telephone, was unable to have his problem solved because the call was lost or not answered at all. We communicated with the hospital and, through its social action service, a medical prescription was obtained for the patient.