Medical care for refugees

Even if you are not registered as a war refugee yet, you are entitled to standard medical care. This also applies if you are currently staying in Berlin without a visa and have made your own accommodation arrangements. However, cancer and dialysis patients in particular should contact the social welfare services office (Sozialamt) or join a health insurance scheme as soon as possible to receive medical care. Initially, the social welfare services office in the district you are living is the one responsible for you. If you are registered and have received your residence permit or temporary residence permit, you can apply for social benefits at the Job Centre and receive German health insurance.

You will receive a full picture of the German health system and medical services on the health portal for refugees and persons entering the country of the Federal Ministry of Health

If you need medical assistance and are not yet registered or have not yet received your residence permit, you should contact the social welfare office (Sozialamt) in the district where you currently live. If you have already received a residence permit or temporary residence permit, you will receive your social benefits, including payment of health insurance, from the Job Centre, if applicable. You can also receive basic medical services before you have made an appointment at the social welfare office or the Job Centre. To do so, search for a doctor’s practice on the website of the Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Berlin (local association of statutory-health-insurance accredited doctors) and make an appointment. Please provide proof of identity – for example, your passport – at the doctor’s practice.

At large accommodation shelters, medical care for refugees is provided directly on site. In emergencies, please go to the nearest hospital or contact the medical on-call service under the telephone number 030 116 117. In life-threatening situations and emergencies, call the emergency services under the number 112. For cases of severe mental or emotional distress you will find more contacts at psychiatrie-psychotherapie.charite.de.

If you have questions, or if you need low-threshold medical advice, or information on psychological topics, go and see one of the following.

• Centre for Survival (Zentrum Überleben)
• Xenion e.V.

Here you can find information, offers and contact points for refugees with disabilities.

Pregnant women who have arrived from Ukraine and do not have health insurance yet can get a gynaecological examination, or antenatal check-up at the sexual health and family planning centres (Zentren für sexuelle Gesundheit und Familienplanung). You will need to make an appointment by telephone. There are centres at five locations: Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Mitte and Steglitz-Zehlendorf.

On complicated.life you will find a list of therapists who offer up to four cost-free online therapy sessions for Ukrainian refugees. The listed therapists have special fields and speak various languages. The online portal gives you the opportunity to filter your choice by language and method. The therapy sessions take place online, so you will need an internet connection. In order to use the service you have to register, free of charge, with the organization complicated.life (see above).

The Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry at Vivantes offers free, open psychiatric and psychological counselling for refugees from Ukraine. The counselling is aimed at children, adolescents and adults and is offered in the respective mother tongue (Russian or Ukrainian). The service is available Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4 pm. Pre-registration by telephone is possible at 0151 6893 9573.

The Berlin Charité offers a psychiatric emergency clinic for refugees from Ukraine. You can get an appointment by email or telephone at 030 209 69040.

St Hedwig’s Hospital also offers consultations for refugees, which place particular emphasis on assistance with working through trauma and fleeing. Find more information and contact options here.

The Russian-language advice hotline DOWERIA offers advice and help if you are experiencing psychological distress and on migration issues in Ukrainian and Russian on its hotline number 030 440 308 454. The service is available day and night.

The counselling centre Gegenwind offers counselling and coaching in English individually and in pairs. You can contact the counselling centre at kontakt@beratungsstelle-gegenwind.de or by phone at 030 39 87 98 11 (office hours Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 12 pm).

People who are in need of care due to illness or disability and cannot pay for the costs of their care themselves should contact the social welfare office of the district in which they live. Go to the overview of Berlin’s social welfare offices. The Social Welfare Office will cover the costs of care provided by relatives or professional caregivers as well as for stays in care facilities if you have the appropriate classification.

The prerequisite for care assistance is that those affected are assigned to a corresponding care grade or care level. The social welfare offices are responsible for this for refugees from Ukraine.

If you receive benefits from the job centre, your care benefits will be covered by the care insurance fund after a waiting period of two years. You will be informed in good time by your social welfare office about the change of responsibility.