In order to admit all Covid-19 patients and at the same time provide emergency medical care to other patients in an acute situation, the government decided to limit scheduled health services to inpatients and day hospitals.
Statistics from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control show that both the number of people with Covid-19 (by 50 percent) and the number of inpatients with Covid-19 (by 32.6 percent) increased last week compared to the previous week. About a tenth of patients require hospital treatment, so as the number of Covid-19 patients increases, so will the number of inpatients. At present, 516 patients with moderate to severe disease are being treated in hospitals, and this number is increasing every day. The Ministry of Health explains that inpatient treatment facilities must be ready to provide assistance to both Covid-19 patients and acute and emergency care to patients with other conditions, so hospitals will temporarily not provide planned assistance, as well as separate day hospital programs.
The possibility of restricting the work of hospitals throughout the country in order to devote all efforts to Covid-19 patients and continuous admission of acute patients with other diseases was discussed at the Ministry of Health last week, but at that time the State Medical Commission did not consider the resource situation and the treatment of Covid-19 patients should be addressed by each treatment facility. This is also stated by the Ministry of Health, emphasizing that such a decision was taken at the same time as greater restrictions in all areas, so that “hospitals are also more prepared for the rapid increase in the number of Covid-19 patients”.
Restrictions are already in place
As of December 3, hospitals are obliged to restrict planned health care services provided in the inpatient and day hospital. Many health services will not be disrupted – emergency medical and acute care will continue to be provided, including examinations and consultations. The previous amount will provide outpatient health care services, including specialist consultations. Oncological, life-saving, as well as operations, the cancellation of which may result in disability, will also not be canceled.
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The Ministry of Health explains what services will remain in day hospitals. Services for patients with oncology and other diseases will be maintained to ensure continuity of treatment – chemotherapy, biological drugs, organ replacement therapy; radiotherapy and day hospital services in hematology will not be discontinued. Substitution treatment rooms for drug addicts will continue to operate, namely methadone and buprenorphine programs. Inpatient care will be provided to patients who need to continue or complete inpatient emergency treatment. With restrictions, invasive cardiology and invasive radiology continue to work.
Hospitals will communicate with patients
The Ministry of Health has stipulated that each medical institution must contact the patient individually to inform if a service will be delayed. At the same time, these patients will not lose their queue and will be given priority when resuming specific services.
If, for example, a person, together with a family doctor, decides that a service is not currently needed, it is important to cancel the registration at the medical institution.
Despite the limitations of the emergency, inpatient care will continue to require the provision of acute and emergency medical care, oncological, life-saving, as well as operations, the cancellation of which may result in disability. Medical care is maintained for certain groups of patients – oncology, HIV / AIDS, tuberculosis patients, psychiatry, patients with communicable skin diseases and sexually transmitted diseases, and traumatology. Patients in need of rehabilitation will also receive medical services and for whom the postponement of these services may lead to a risk of disability or loss of ability to work, including children for whom the postponement of rehabilitation services is associated with a significant deterioration in functioning. For more detailed information on state-paid health care services, the Ministry of Health calls to contact the National Health Service by phone 80001234.
Interrupt medical tourism
The government has also decided to suspend the provision of health care services in the context of medical tourism until the end of the emergency. However, the Minister of Health will have the right to authorize the provision of these services in cases involving humanitarian considerations.
According to the information of the Health Inspectorate, more than 100 persons from countries with a high prevalence of Covid-19 enter Latvia every week for the purpose of medical tourism,
thus creating an additional risk of the spread of imported cases in the country. Also, the care of these patients requires additional resources of health care professionals, which are currently needed to provide health care services to the local population.
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