Latvia’s Health Ministry Clarifies Jēkabpils Dialysis Situation: Service Unavailable for Three Days
After a Jēkabpils resident complained about hemodialysis availability, the Health Ministry clarified that the service was unavailable for only three days due to planned repairs and patients received procedures at Aizkraukle hospital.
A resident of Jēkabpils has turned to Latvijas Avīze, expressing outrage over the availability of hemodialysis at the local hospital. He says the dialysis department was closed in August owing to a shortage of staff, and patients were redirected to other nearby facilities. The reader stresses that hemodialysis cannot simply be postponed: it is life-sustaining organ replacement therapy that many people need several times a week, and disruptions create health risks as well as a heavy emotional and physical burden.
In response, the Health Ministry said it had clarified the situation. According to the information received, the service was unavailable in Jēkabpils for only three days because of planned repairs to the water supply system. To ensure continuity of treatment, patients were referred in advance to Aizkraukle hospital, where all necessary dialysis procedures were carried out. Thus, health care was not interrupted.
The ministry stressed that the medical institution itself is responsible for organising treatment and must guarantee safe, timely and high-quality care. If a facility is temporarily unable to provide a particular service for objective reasons, it must find a solution. In such cases, getting the patient to another hospital is arranged together with the patient and, if necessary, with the relevant municipality.
In the ministry’s assessment, the Jēkabpils hospital acted responsibly and in the patient’s interest in this situation, making timely arrangements for dialysis elsewhere. The ministry also said there was no reason to conclude that the service had been unavailable for a long time or that patients did not receive the necessary treatment.
