The year is only halfway, but the Liepaja Regional Hospital has already practically exhausted its quota of state-funded medical services. For example, it is no longer possible to see a cardiologist this year with state money. In the first half of the year, the hospital overspent more than one million euros on inpatient and outpatient services.
"We are starting to reduce our services, this will have a big impact on access to services in the next six months and, yes, a lot of patients will feel the impact. In the past, in the previous contracts that we have had, [..] when we see that there is demand, yes, there is overworking, then changes are made within the year and funding is found. This year it has been categorically stated that it will not happen," said Andris Vistiņš, Member of the Board of "Liepāja Regional Hospital" Ltd.
The largest debts to hospitals are for emergency care.
"Overrun is around 20%. The situation is similar in outpatient care, where quotas have long been overfilled because they are based on incorrect calculations for treating patients. Consequently, there are large overruns in certain sectors. By the end of the year, it could be 24 million.
"So, if ten patients are scheduled to be treated in a month, if we go over that, we only get paid for ten. The fact that we are treating more is of no interest to anyone at the moment," said Jevgēņijs Kalējs, Chairman of the Latvian Hospital Association.
Patients should be prepared for fewer and fewer services to be available for public money as the end of the year approaches. At the beginning of next year, due to a shortage of quotas, this year's patients will have to be treated. The first to raise the alarm was the Daugavpils Hospital, which has a debt of four million euros, which is lower than last year. This year, almost EUR 346,000 have already been overspent on outpatient services.
"We cannot limit the flow of emergency patients in the inpatient sector, despite the overrun, but in the outpatient sector it is the case that really in the day hospital operations or radiological examinations - we plan, we approach planning much more carefully," said Edgars Labsvīrs, member of the board of "Daugavpils Regional Hospital" Ltd.
The National Health Service pointed out that hospitals should stick to the quotas set by the state. No additional funding is currently envisaged.
