Daughter describes father's route through Latvia's healthcare: lack of information and a paid scan that was refused
A woman named Dace told Latvijas Avīze how her father, who developed double vision, had to find his own way to doctors, how the hospital gave relatives little information, and how a private clinic refused an MRI scan only after payment.
The Latvian news site LA.LV has published the story of a reader named Dace, who describes how her father dealt with Latvia's healthcare system after sudden vision problems. She does not give her full surname or the region where she lives, stressing that her account concerns the system as a whole rather than any particular doctor or hospital.
Suspected stroke
Dace's father began seeing double and told his daughter. After consulting an artificial intelligence tool, Dace concluded it could be a stroke and contacted the family doctor. The doctor prepared several referrals for examinations and advised against calling an ambulance, suggesting the family take him to specialists themselves because that would be quicker. Not all medical specialists are available in regional hospitals, so they travelled to Riga, to the emergency department of Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital.
Waiting and uncertainty
Dace waited in the reception area from 14:00 to 22:00. Her father was later taken further into the hospital and told her by phone that he was lying on a couch in a corridor. Only on the evening of the second day did she learn that he had been placed in a ward. Although she had given her phone number and email, the hospital did not contact her, and since doctors visit patients in the morning, she could not meet them. After eleven days he was discharged, with only short notice.
The MRI scan
At the start of the following week his condition worsened again; this time an ambulance was called, which Dace praised. Later the family booked a paid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan through the e-health system, since a state-funded one would mean waiting until next year. The clinic turned out to be private, which was not clearly stated when booking, and cost extra. Only at the appointment did the doctor point out that the patient takes diabetes medication, so the scan could not go ahead. Test results are valid for seven days, so they may have to be repeated.
Dace argues that the burden of all this falls on patients and their families, in their time, money and health.
