Radiation therapy equipment broken at Riga hospital — elderly patient still waiting months later

An 83-year-old patient at Riga East Clinical University Hospital (RAKUS) has been waiting months for radiation therapy to treat basal cell carcinoma, a type of skin cancer. Treatment was originally scheduled to begin in July but was postponed after the hospital's close-focus radiotherapy device, used for treating skin tumors, broke down.

The patient's relative says the family received contradictory information from the hospital — at times told to wait for a call from the department, at other times asked to contact the department themselves. The family even offered to pay for the procedure privately, hoping to speed up treatment, but this offer was declined.

Hospital explains the delay

RAKUS confirms the device has a technical fault and cannot simply be switched back on after repair, since this type of high-precision radiation equipment requires mandatory testing, calibration and dosimetric checks afterward to ensure safe and accurate treatment. Repairs are carried out by certified specialists working with the manufacturer, and the hospital says it cannot yet give a specific timeline for when the device will be operational again, as this depends on the nature of the fault and the scope of required checks.

The hospital notes that basal cell carcinoma carries a very low risk of metastasis, meaning treatment can sometimes be postponed without the urgency seen with more aggressive tumors. The attending physician decides the most suitable treatment approach for each patient individually, including the possibility of surgical treatment as an alternative.

No paid option available

Patients already on the hospital's waiting list will be contacted by the department once the device is repaired, tested, and a new treatment slot can be offered. RAKUS also confirms that no paid radiation therapy service exists at the hospital, since such procedures for oncology patients in Latvia are funded from the state budget — and a paid option would not speed up treatment using the same, currently inoperable, device.