At Riga Municipal Polyclinic, patients were charged for doctor’s face masks / Article / LSM.lv

At the Charlotte Polyclinic, owned by the Riga Municipality, patients were charged an additional fee for doctors’ face masks, protective equipment and disinfectants. In the interest of LTV, the hospital informed that this fee had been canceled.

Daniils Smirnovs, a journalist from the LTV Russian News Service, went for an occupational health examination two weeks ago. He had consulted an ophthalmologist, a neurologist and an occupational physician. Although all visits are covered by health insurance, he had to pay an additional € 2.2 at the reception, € 0.7 for a mask and another € 1.5 for protective equipment.

He explained that doctors have to pay for personal protective equipment.

Daniel met the first two doctors in masks. When addressed, they did not know how to explain what the patient had to pay an additional 2.2 euros, saying to ask those who issued the check.

The third doctor he met was without a mask, and the patient was admitted sitting in outerwear, which was not allowed for patients. She also did not know what to pay for 2.2 euros.

Such a situation should not be, admits the hospital. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the board of Riga 1st Hospital has issued an order that all personnel of the medical institution must always wear personal protective equipment at the workplace.

‘The patient has the right to ask the doctor to put on this mask or to refuse the service; this doctor has violated the rules of internal procedure, and he may be subject to disciplinary action, ”said Iveta Medne, a representative of Riga 1st Hospital.

The additional fee of 2.2 euros is divided into two parts. 70 cents should only be paid to patients who arrive at the hospital without their own protective mask.

The remaining EUR 1.5 has been charged and this cost item “only partially covers the costs incurred by the hospital in providing patients and staff with personal protective equipment, additional tools and facilities for disinfection, and, depending on the specific nature of the doctor’s activities, is not not just a mask, but gloves, booties, face shield, disposable clothing, ”explained Medne.

At present, this additional fee has been abolished, because the evaluation of the hospital’s performance in the first eight months has shown that the financial situation of the medical institution is stable and the hospital can cover the costs related to disinfection.

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