The network of hospitals will remain the same next year, and the basket of planned services will not change significantly, but it is clear that reforms are inevitable.
The initially planned funds are insufficient each year, and they need to be reviewed and additional funds allocated. Last year, funding for inpatient services increased from €646.76 million to €699.33 million by the end of the year. This year, the allocated amount has been overspent, and regional hospitals have fulfilled their plan by 100.4% over eight months. Various solutions are being sought to improve the situation. One of them is the creation of a unified payment system for inpatient services. In turn, industry representatives are calling on hospital leaders to provide them with greater freedom in decision-making regarding the use of funds.
As for funding, Daugavpils Hospital receives the largest share among regional hospitals - about 4.7% of the total state funding, or nearly €32 million. This is followed by Liepaja Hospital with €26.2 million (3.86%), Vidzeme Hospital with €19.2 million (2.84%), North Kurzeme Hospital with €16.8 million (2.48%), Rezekne Hospital with €15.7 million (2.32%), Jelgava City Hospital with €15.57 million (2.29%), and Jekabpils Regional Hospital with €13.85 million (2.04%).
The distribution of funding among hospitals does not allow for much flexibility - before reallocating funds, it can only be "moved" between items by 5%. For example, if the number of applications for knee joint replacement was lower than planned, the money can be redirected to hip joint surgeries. However, any changes regarding both inpatient and outpatient services must be approved by the National Health Service (NHS). The head of the Latvian Hospital Association, Evgeny Kaleis, called for hospital leaders to be given more freedom in using funding so that they do not have to guess whether the NHS will allow something to be done. He also pointed out that the actual number of patients does not reflect the real need, which is significantly higher.
State Audit member Maya Abolina expressed concern about the lack of transparency in the redistribution of funding between services and that hospitals are merely trying to keep this money in their budgets. She urged them to make bolder decisions to bring order to the sector.
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