A fever that will not come down, a fall on the rocks at Castro, chest pain on a hot August night, a jellyfish sting that looks angrier by the hour. None of it is how anyone plans time in Salento, but help here is closer and better organized than many visitors expect. This guide is for everyone, travelers and locals, adults and children: which hospitals in the province of Lecce (and the nearby Brindisi hospitals) have a pronto soccorso (emergency room), when to call 112, what to do out of hours, and what to have in your bag. Children’s services have their own section.
Please note: in an emergency call 112. Hospital services, sites and hours change, so check the linked official pages before you travel. This is general information, not medical advice.
The short version
- Life-threatening emergency: call 112, the single European emergency number. It is free, it has multilingual operators and since May 2024 it has covered the whole of Puglia. 118, the old medical emergency number, still works and is answered by the same center (Regione Puglia announcement).
- Urgent, but not an ambulance case: go to the nearest pronto soccorso (emergency room, or ER). Adults and children use the same ER at every Salento hospital; there is no separate children’s ER in the province.
- Something that cannot wait for Monday: the continuità assistenziale (out-of-hours doctor, still widely called the guardia medica), every night and at weekends.
- Children with minor problems at weekends: the SCAP, a free pediatric clinic next to the ER of the main ASL Lecce hospitals, on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
- Medicines at night or on a Sunday: the farmacia di turno (duty pharmacy).
Hospitals in Salento with an emergency department
The public health authority for the province is ASL Lecce. Six of its hospitals have a pronto soccorso open around the clock, listed on the ASL Lecce emergency services page, which also shows live counts of patients waiting in each ER by triage color. The Cardinale Panico hospital in Tricase, run by a church foundation, adds a seventh at the tip of the peninsula. Children’s wards are confirmed in the ASL Lecce service charter (May 2026) and the Regione Puglia list of maternity and children’s units.
| Hospital | Address | ER | For children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vito Fazzi, Lecce | Piazza Filippo Muratore 1, Lecce | Yes, 24 hours | Pediatrics ward, pediatric surgery, pediatric oncology and haematology, neonatal intensive care. No separate children’s ER |
| Veris Delli Ponti, Scorrano | Via Giuseppina Delli Ponti, Scorrano | Yes, 24 hours | Pediatrics ward |
| Sacro Cuore di Gesù, Gallipoli | Strada Provinciale per Alezio, Gallipoli | Yes, 24 hours | Pediatrics and neonatal ward |
| Santa Caterina Novella, Galatina | Via Roma, Galatina | Yes, 24 hours | Pediatrics and neonatal ward |
| Francesco Ferrari, Casarano | Via Circonvallazione, Casarano | Yes, 24 hours | Pediatric day clinic only, no children’s ward |
| San Giuseppe da Copertino, Copertino | Via Carmiano, Copertino | Yes, 24 hours | No pediatric unit listed |
| Cardinale G. Panico, Tricase | Via San Pio X 4, Tricase | Yes | Pediatrics with neonatology and neonatal intensive care |
Vito Fazzi, Lecce
Fazzi is the province’s main hospital and the one most patients end up at, sitting just off the Lecce ring road towards San Cesario. It holds the full range of children’s services in Salento: a pediatrics ward, pediatric surgery, pediatric oncology and haematology, and a neonatal intensive care unit. Children are seen through the general pronto soccorso. From the center of Lecce it is about 10 minutes by car; from San Foca or the Adriatic beaches, about 30.
The south and the coasts
For the Adriatic side and the Capo di Leuca, Scorrano and Tricase are the closest hospitals with children’s wards: about 20 minutes from Otranto or Castro to Scorrano, and about 25 minutes from Santa Maria di Leuca to Tricase. On the Ionian side, Gallipoli’s hospital stands on the road to Alezio, some 10 minutes from the old town, with Galatina a little inland. Around Porto Cesareo and Nardò, Copertino is the nearest ER (about 20 minutes from Porto Cesareo) but has no children’s unit, so for a child who may need admission Lecce, Gallipoli or Galatina can make more sense. If in doubt, 112 will decide where to take you.
The Brindisi side
If you are staying in the southern part of the province of Brindisi, or simply find yourself closer to Brindisi than to Lecce, the Perrino hospital in Brindisi (S.S. 7 per Mesagne) is about 35 minutes from Lecce. It has an ER, a pediatrics ward and neonatal intensive care. The Camberlingo hospital in Francavilla Fontana (Via Mons. Armando Franco) also has an ER. Both run a weekend SCAP pediatric clinic (see below).
When to call 112, and when to drive
Call 112 (or 118) straight away whenever a life may be at risk. The national 118 guidance lists breathing that is difficult or has stopped, chest pain, a person who has lost consciousness and does not respond, injuries with heavy bleeding, any serious accident (on the road, at home, at sea or during sport), sudden difficulty speaking or weakness in the arm and leg on one side, and signs of choking, poisoning, drowning or burns.
For a suspected stroke, the Ministry of Health uses the FAST check: a face that droops on one side, an arm that cannot be raised or held up, speech that is slurred or strange, and time, meaning call 112 or 118 at once. Do not wait to see whether it passes, do not call the out-of-hours doctor and do not drive yourself, because the ambulance will go to a hospital with a stroke unit.
With children, also call 112 if a child is turning blue or gray, is unusually floppy, has a seizure, has a serious head injury or has swallowed something dangerous. The same goes for a severe allergic reaction in anyone, including to a sting at the beach. The operator will locate you, pass the call to the 118 medical service and send an ambulance.
For worrying but stable problems, such as a high fever in someone who is alert, a sprain, a cut that needs stitches or persistent vomiting, it is fine to go to the nearest pronto soccorso yourself. Arriving by ambulance does not get you seen sooner.
What the operator will ask
Stay calm and answer the questions. The 118 guidance asks callers to give their phone number, the place (town, street and house number), what happened, how many people are involved, and whether they are responding, breathing or bleeding. Mention a young child, a pregnancy, an older person or a known condition such as heart disease, asthma, diabetes or epilepsy. Stay on the line until you are told you can hang up, then keep the phone free in case the operations center calls back.
How triage works at the pronto soccorso
At the door a triage nurse assesses the patient and assigns a code. You are seen in order of urgency, not arrival, so a long wait with a minor problem usually means the system is working. Puglia uses the national five-code system, which appears in the regional ER figures:
| Code | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red | Emergency, seen immediately |
| 2 | Orange | Urgent, seen very quickly |
| 3 | Azure (light blue) | Urgent but can wait a little |
| 4 | Green | Minor, low priority |
| 5 | White | Not urgent |
Some ASL pages still describe the older four-color scale (red, yellow, green, white), so you may see either. Per ASL Lecce, visits closed as a white code carry a ticket (a patient charge). A white-code problem is usually better served by the continuità assistenziale or, for a child at the weekend, the SCAP.
Out of hours: continuità assistenziale and tourist doctors
Continuità assistenziale (the old guardia medica)
The continuità assistenziale (out-of-hours medical service), still widely called the guardia medica, is the local out-of-hours doctor, there for problems that cannot wait until the family doctor’s office reopens. In the ASL Lecce area it runs every night from 20:00 to 8:00, on Saturdays and the day before a public holiday from 10:00 to 20:00, and on public holidays from 8:00 to 20:00. You can phone or go to one of the local sites, found in most towns; the doctor may advise by phone, see you at the clinic or visit. Residents of Puglia pay nothing. Visitors from outside the region usually pay a small fee for a visit, set by the regional agreement.
Guardia medica turistica (summer tourist doctor)
Each summer ASL Lecce opens extra clinics for visitors in the main seaside places, with their own opening hours. Sites depend on the doctors the ASL can recruit, and they change from year to year. Rather than trust an old leaflet or a list copied onto a holiday-rental website, check the ASL Lecce tourist health page each season. It was still marked as being updated for summer 2026 when we last looked, so we have not listed addresses here.
116117, the new non-emergency number
116117 is the European number for non-urgent medical care. The Ministry of Health authorized Puglia to launch it on a trial basis in August 2026, and the region said the first phase, due this autumn, would replace the separate continuità assistenziale numbers, answer 24 hours a day and pass any emergency on to 118 (Regione Puglia announcement). It cannot be called from a locked phone. When we checked in mid-October 2026 we could not confirm that it was live everywhere, so if 116117 does not connect, use the continuità assistenziale numbers on the ASL page. It never replaces 112 or 118.
If the patient is a child
Children are seen in the same pronto soccorso as adults, and the triage nurse decides the order. The table above shows which hospitals have a pediatrics ward, which matters if a child may need to stay in. Two more things are worth knowing.
When a child needs a specialist hospital
Puglia’s dedicated children’s hospital is Giovanni XXIII in Bari (Via Giovanni Amendola 207), which has its own pediatric ER for minors. It is about two hours’ drive from Lecce, so it is a place you would be transferred to, not somewhere to drive to in a hurry. Families living in the Valle d’Itria are much closer; our Valle d’Itria guide to hospitals and emergency care covers that area.
SCAP: pediatricians at the weekend
The SCAP (Servizio di Consulenza Ambulatoriale Pediatrica) is one of the most useful services for families. Family pediatricians staff a clinic next to the ER of the main hospitals on Saturdays, Sundays, the days before holidays and public holidays, from 8:00 to 20:00. Access is direct and free, and it is meant for low-priority problems that would otherwise queue in the pronto soccorso. The current sites and phone numbers are on the ASL page. ASL Brindisi runs the same service at Brindisi, Francavilla Fontana and Ostuni.
Duty pharmacies (farmacie di turno)
Italian pharmacies take turns to stay open at night, on Sundays and on holidays. The rota is posted on the door or window of every pharmacy, so the nearest closed one will tell you which is open. Online, the PugliaSalute duty pharmacy page covers the provincial capitals, including Lecce. A pharmacist is often a sensible first stop for sunburn, a scraped knee or an upset stomach. If a medicine needs a prescription, the continuità assistenziale doctor (or, for a child at the weekend, the SCAP) can write one.
What to bring
- An identity document or passport for the patient and for you.
- EU, EEA and Swiss visitors: the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, called TEAM in Italy). It gives access to necessary care in the public system on the same terms as residents, including any ticket, which is not refunded (European Commission guidance for Italy).
- UK visitors: the UK GHIC or UK EHIC, which covers necessary state healthcare in the EU (NHS guidance). It does not replace travel insurance.
- Visitors from outside the EU, such as the US, Canada or Australia: your travel medical insurance details and a card for payment. A pronto soccorso will treat an emergency, but you may be billed afterwards, so keep every receipt and report for your insurer.
- Residents: the patient’s tessera sanitaria (health card, which also carries the codice fiscale). See our guide to public health insurance for families in Italy if you are still registering, or our guide to public and private hospitals in Puglia for the wider system.
- A note of allergies, regular medicines and any long-term conditions, plus a child’s weight and vaccinations. It saves time at triage, especially in a second language.
- Water, a phone charger and something to pass the time. Waits for green and white codes can be long.
Once home, residents follow up with their family doctor (medico di medicina generale) or, for children, the family pediatrician (pediatra di libera scelta). If you are looking for one who speaks English, see our list of English-speaking pediatricians and doctors in Lecce.
Useful Italian phrases
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Dov’è il pronto soccorso? | Where is the ER? |
| Ho un forte dolore al petto. | I have severe chest pain. |
| Prendo questi farmaci. | I take these medicines. |
| Mio figlio / mia figlia ha la febbre alta. | My son / my daughter has a high temperature. |
| Fa fatica a respirare. | He / she is struggling to breathe. |
| È caduto / caduta e ha battuto la testa. | He / she fell and hit his / her head. |
| Ha vomitato più volte. | He / she has been sick several times. |
| È stato punto da una medusa. | He was stung by a jellyfish. |
| È allergico / allergica a… | He / she is allergic to… |
| Pesa … chili. | He / she weighs … kilos. |
| Parla inglese? | Do you speak English? |
| Siamo turisti. Abbiamo la tessera TEAM. | We are visitors. We have the European health card. |
| C’è una farmacia di turno qui vicino? | Is there a duty pharmacy nearby? |
A few local tips
- Save the address of the nearest hospital, as well as the nearest guardia medica, on your phone when you arrive. Rural addresses in Salento can be vague, and a pin helps.
- Summer brings heat, sea urchins and jellyfish. Water shoes on rocky coves and shade at midday prevent a surprising number of trips to the pharmacy. Our guide to Puglia’s Blue Flag beaches marks which beaches are sandy and which are rocky.
- Before setting off with a stable patient, glance at the live waiting figures on the ASL Lecce page. When two hospitals are a similar distance away, the quieter one is often the better choice.
More Lecce guides: our Lecce hub.
