| Current services in Latvia |
| The following palliative care services are known to exist in Latvia. |
| |
Existing Services (2002) |
| Adult |
Inpatient - Freestanding |
0 |
| - Hospital Unit |
1 |
| - Hospital mobile team |
0 |
| Nursing Home |
0 |
| Home Care |
9 |
| Day Care |
3 |
| Total |
4 |
| Paediatric |
Inpatient |
1 |
| Home Care |
0 |
| Day Care |
0 |
| Unspecified |
0 |
| Total |
1 |
| Grand Total |
5 |
|
| Current Projects |
| The following palliative care projects are known to exist in Latvia; these are not yet operational services |
| |
Known hospice/ palliative care projects (2002) |
| Adult |
Inpatient - Hospital |
0 |
| - Hospice |
0 |
| Home Care |
0 |
| Unspecified |
0 |
| Total |
0 |
| Paediatric |
Hospital |
0 |
| Hospice |
0 |
| Home Care |
0 |
| Unspecified |
0 |
| Total |
0 |
| Grand Total |
0 |
|
| At the end of 2001 there were five palliative care services in Latvia: 1 adult inpatient unit and 1 paediatric unit (both Riga), together with three adult day care centres (Riga, Liepaja, Aizkraukle). |
| The first palliative care unit (25 beds) was opened in Riga in July 1997 and consists of a hospital inpatient unit within the 650-bed Latvian Oncological Centre, which serves the whole country. Outpatient consultations for palliative care began in the unit in 2001 and there are plans for a home care service: by February 2002, 336 patients and their relatives had been seen by the outpatient service. The unit has a multi-disciplinary team consisting of 3 doctors, nurses, caregivers, a psychologist and a chaplain; the skills of others can be drawn on if required, including anaesthesiologists, surgeons and a psychiatrist. Almost all of the patients seen have advanced cancer, with a very small number of AIDS cases. The palliative care unit and related oncological wards are said to be usually overcrowded. In 1998 the palliative care unit admitted 574 patients, 395 of whom were discharged and made use of 7,561 bed days; 98.2% of patients had a cancer diagnosis, of which the most common were breast (16.3%), lung (15.3%) and stomach (9.2%). |
| Palliative care is not a licensed specialty in Latvia, but each year short courses are held in Riga for interested doctors, nurses and students. The Riga unit has obtained some financial support for these courses from abroad, as well as from the Open Society Foundation in Latvia, and from pharmaceutical companies. |
| There is also a small palliative care unit within the oncological hospital of the seaport city of Liepaja and an outpatient facility in Aizkraukle, but it is reported that family doctors, under whose care the patients remain, are unwilling to refer to these units and that the staff there have significant unmet educational needs.2 There is also an outpatient palliative care team within the State Children’s Hospital in Riga. |
| The main complaints of cancer patients experiencing pain have been listed as: family doctors do not prescribe painkillers because of limited funds; medication is prescribed only once, thereafter patients must pay for it themselves; there are difficulties in meeting with family doctors, often with long waits involved; family doctors are disinclined to refer patients with pain to specialists; and there are complaints about the quality of the work of both family doctors and specialists.3 |
| There is an urgent need to train more specialists in palliative care, who can then train others; but access to training opportunities is hampered by limited funds. At present palliative care in Latvia is provided entirely by personnel who have been trained abroad. Undergraduate education in palliative care began in the Riga unit in 1999-2000, with courses for nurses (4-12 hours) and medical students (10-20 hours). There are ongoing postgraduate courses for community and hospital-based nurses as well as for oncologists and family doctors. The unit has also run short courses for volunteers and for caregivers. |
|
Top | Latvia Homepage | Regions & Countries | Countries A-Z
Observatory Home | Global Analysis Home |
Your Location: Global Analysis Home > Countries A-Z > Latvia > Current Services