The magazine Jauns un Privāts publishes a tough piece by television journalist Inese Supe, who has been fighting cancer for many years.
Hospice services in our country are available; however, concerns have already been raised that the government has decided to cut funding and make changes to the medical service payment model, which will likely affect seriously ill patients and their families. Currently, there is a paid service for a 180-day hospice in Latvia.
This term refers to palliative home care, which greatly eases the daily life of both the patient and those around them. Those who have not faced this situation are often unaware of the importance of hospice support.
I. Supe reports that oncology patients die from severe pain. Complaints have been received from cancer patients about what is happening in medical institutions – due to the inability to replace pain relief medications with more effective ones: “For doctors in hospitals to be able to replace a patient’s medications, a doctor’s order is needed, but these doctors are not always available; for example, they may be on vacation.”
“Every person who has worked, dedicated their energy to the future of the state, paid taxes, and raised children as citizens of Latvia deserves respectful treatment,” Inese shared her opinion.
Her sister died both from pain and hunger, as it later turned out that the woman’s esophagus had closed – but there was no doctor to confirm this. “My sister, in the palliative care department of the hospital, bit her lower lip from the pain while dying…,” writes I. Supe.
“Mobile palliative care performs all the functions that emergency medical assistance has been carrying out until now. That is, those who are on their deathbed often spend their last days at home, and their care falls on the shoulders of their loved ones. The relatives can no longer work fully and pay taxes to the state.”
As reported bb.lv, the President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, intends to discuss at a conceptual level with responsible officials the need for funding medications for oncology patients.
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