More 010 telephone helpline calls and staff

22/08/2020 - 10:29 h

The 010 citizen helpline has been expanding its capacity in response to a rise in consultations as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. It has been able to attend to up to 35% more calls a day since July. A technological adaptation has enabled it to expand its call-response capacity, from 150 to 210. The service has already brought in an extra 49 professionals and will be taking in a further 24 in September. This represents a 43% increase in its number of staff.

80% more calls than in 2019

The 010 telephone helpline, a free service since 2017, received over 1,650,000 calls from the start of the COVID-19 health crisis to 9 August, with between 6,000 and 7,000 calls every work day, representing an 80.3% increase in demand compared to the same period in 2019. In addition, on average, calls were 33% longer than in 2019 and the service’s assistance times were increased by 50%.

Most of these inquiries were received from the start of Stage 1 of the lockdown exit, coinciding with the resumption of administrative activity and municipal services. The most frequent telephone inquiries from the start of the health crisis were for requesting information on the COVID-19, carrying out municipal procedures and receiving information on social or housing services.

Remote, priority assistance

Remote assistance was prioritised during the health crises. That period saw over 50 different procedures put into service, the most requested and urgent ones, to be carried out online, with IdCAT Mòbil, at the Virtual Procedures Office. As a result, over 33,000 procedures were carried out online.

At present all Citizen Help and Information Offices (OACs) are open for face-to-face services, with restricted capacities and essentially by prior appointment. Appointments can be requested through:

A total of 80,752 face-to-face inquiries have been attended to since the offices reopened.

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