The Case of the Doctors: The Police of Latvia Investigated Medical Workers Who Worked 13-14 Hours a Day 0 4

This autumn, auditors from the State Audit Office recorded cases where the same doctor could be employed in several hospitals at once. There were doctors who worked more than 400 hours in a month. That is, 13-14 hours a day and without days off.

Member of the State Audit Office Council, Maia Abolinya, stated that there are quite a few such cases. During the audit, the State Audit Office assessed the activities of doctors selectively but identified about ten similar cases with excessive working hours.

"Overall, we wanted to show that this is a systemic problem in the country: in addressing the issue of staff shortages, hospitals are forced to fill so-called staffing lists on paper in this way, even though, most likely, the doctors are not actually present there," Abolinya suspects.

She suggests that the problem may be even broader, as auditors did not assess how doctors combine work in hospitals with work in outpatient facilities or in the private sector.

"The most dramatic examples are cases where it can be established that a doctor combines working hours simultaneously or consecutively, one shift after another, and the duties are located at such distances from each other that it is obvious — physically this doctor cannot be in those places," noted Abolinya.

The facts identified by the auditors have also drawn the attention of deputies, who raised the issue of fictitious employment in medical institutions at the subcommittee on criminal law and punishment policy.

As one of them stated, if it is established that a person works 400 hours a month and simultaneously in two places, then it is not only about labor organization but also about the payment of money for work that is actually not performed.

The deputy asked the prosecutor's office to pay attention to the State Audit Office report. The prosecutor's office sent a statement to the State Police.

The police confirmed to Latvian Television that following the deputy's appeal, a criminal process was initiated under two articles of the Criminal Law — for possible fraud and for document forgery.

In the interest of the investigation, more detailed information is not provided.