Development of medical rehabilitation had been 'on paper' only – State Audit Office

RIGA – Many measures for development of medical rehabilitation sector listed in the documents of the Latvian Health Ministry have remained "on paper" only, according to the latest report of the State Audit Office.

Assessing medical rehabilitation services, the State Audit Office discovered lack of data about patients’ needs in medical rehabilitation and the achieved results, and, thus, it is hard to assess efficiency of the government-funded rehabilitation services and people’s needs. There is no understanding on how the rehabilitation sector should develop in the future, what its goals and priorities are.

Chief Auditor Elita Krumina underscrores that many of the measures listed in the ministry’s documents remain "on paper" only. "Patients who do not receive the necessary service suffer. At the time when we hear reports on shortage of laborforce, working age people do not receive timely medical rehabilitation services, and the number of work disability cases has risen by 15 percent in two years," she said.

Krumina said in an interview with the Latvian public radio today that financing to medical rehabilitation has been increased, but neither medics, nor patients have benefited from that. From 2014 until 2017 financing for rehabilitation has increased by 30 percent.