Doctors do not care about the reorganization of ambulance brigades / Article / LSM.LV

The planned reforms during the work of the teams of the Emergency Medical Assistance Service (NMPD) are not supported by medical specialists from several places in Latvia. They are excited that they will not be able to provide timely medical help. However, management suggests that staff and the public have no reason to worry – the change in internal service will not diminish the availability of medical care for the population.

Currently, there are 188 brigades operating in the service. 18 of them work only during the day, and the rest work 24 hours a day. At the end of the year, 18 brigades are planned to be transformed into day brigades

Such a service will try to attract more people to work one day, since the brigades are then the most difficult. with time, it was possible to cope with this lack of resources, but at the expense of the exhaustion of the medical staff, as they worked much more hours than they could work, " explains Liene Cipule, head of department. During the day, 80% of calls are received, and at night – 20%. Despite this, the number of brigades in the two days of the day is similar: the day – 188, the night – 170. The Service believes that the number of crews can be reduced at night and improved operational efficiency per day

However, there are doctors in Latvia – Jēkabpils, Dobele, and Rezekne

In Jekabpils, two teams will work at night instead of three brigades, a team will leave for Dobele at night. Judging by their work experience, they worry that the number of such teams may not be able to cope, for example, in the case of someone hospitalized in another city. "It was the case that two teams are simultaneously in Riga.It happened that a brigade comes here, but it takes more time to come to the ambulance" from the "patient" ray Maria Pentjukova, President of the Zemgale Regional Trade Organization

Igor Utenkov, his deputy, is also of the same opinion. "The district of Dobele itself is awesome."

The closest brigade is, of course, Jelgava. "Until Dobele alone is 30 km away, but if this call is going somewhere in Ben then, of course, that's not bad.The brigade will not be able to get into the time we recommend, "

says Utenkov.

The management of the administration rejects this concern. The Cabinet Regulation states that prompt badistance instead of the call must be reached within 15 minutes, if it is in the city, but in 25 minutes, and in the countryside. According to official data, in 2017, almost all these requirements were met in almost 91% of cases in the city, 83.5% in rural areas. In addition, the time spent in high priority was less than the city average of 9.2 minutes and in the campaign it was 17.1

The service dispatcher on a special interactive map simultaneously sees all the brigades and their movements. The call is always sent to the nearest free team. "The public can be completely safe – if we do what we do, we take full responsibility," says Cipule.

Management believes that dissatisfaction among physicians could be explained by changes in pay after a reduction in the number of nights, because they receive a 75% bonus for them.

In order to motivate employees, everyone is promised salary increases and bonuses for work per day – 15%. "Unfortunately, the increase in wages is promising only in January, but its reforms are already underway this year, and of course, on average, an employee loses around 100 euros. .) People will already evaluate it makes sense to stay in fast help or to get to the hospital, "says Utenkov.

The administration regularly organizes meetings with its employees in the regions. A recent meeting was also held with the Jekabpils doctors. During their visit, they made suggestions on how to avoid reducing the number of hours in the night. "One of the major proposals would be to internally change the location of teams, to work on vacation. (…) Our proposals have not been taken into account, have not been taken in account, "said Pentjukova

.The objections were written by Jekabpils' drugs in a protest letter sent to the service director as well as to the chief of the municipality.They did not The response was similar, and Dobele and Rezekne's physicians also acted

BACKGROUND:

In May, the NMPD proposed two initiatives that triggered in-depth discussions. 39; institution requests a change in the price list, also increasing the cost of wrongful calls, and examines the possibility of a team of doctors in large cities with two doctors, one for the work of the driver.For example, in the ambulance brigades d e Latgale and their number will be reorganized in August. It was also decided that "the ambulance" could be the first to help people who need help first. The union said that it was a temporary fix for the problem of shortage of employees.