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Jurga Dūdienė, a member of the Board of the Lithuanian Family Physicians Union, admits that after the quarantine, when medical institutions can operate at full capacity, the flow of patients has increased significantly.
Patient flows are increasing
“It just came to our notice then. But the increase is mainly due to the possibility of access to specialist consultants in chronic and newly diagnosed diseases. As a result, there is an increased flow of patients for whom we have to write a referral after the investigation.
Another thing, all student preventive exams are performed at full capacity with full infection control. Of course, there are also preventive check-ups for work and professional screening. The traffic accumulated during the summer, because no professional medical examination was performed during the spring, ”J. Dūdienė told tv3.lt.
Doctors’ services may have to wait
The GP agrees that now is a very good time for patients to worry about their health, as long as the work of the treatment facilities is not restricted as in quarantine. However, J. Dūdienė points out that even now it can be difficult to reach doctors.
“We still have a check-in scheduled so there are no traffic jams waiting for patients in the hallway, as everyone was used to coming, sitting down and receiving service. We have to get used to everyone living in a friendly way, both medical staff and patients, and plan what we can plan for, ”said J. Dūdienė.
The family doctor also notes that people who get sick suddenly receive medical help every year, so other patients may not be able to get the services they want quickly.
“Therefore, it will definitely not be the case that 100%, if a patient wants to receive all preventive examinations within a week, they will be able to perform them the same day that they go to the medical institution.” As before, these visits were planned, so they continue to be planned, ”said J. Dūdienė.
However, the challenge is not only due to the strict safety requirements for Covid-19 or the large flow of patients, but also to the medical license.
Keep in mind that the visit may have to wait, because many doctors also have annual leave. Therefore, substituting for each other, we accept recently ill patients from our colleagues and our own patients.
You may have to wait a week or two for prevention. Of course, if it’s time to get a job and a person has to present their health certificate to the employer in order to work, it’s really, I think, a human factor, we really try to take it into account and do it more urgently, “added J Dūdienė.
Doctors do not support work restrictions
At the time, Živilė Gudlevičienė, the head of the Lithuanian Medical Movement who works at the Santara clinics, believes that if Lithuania faces the second wave of Covid-19, the flow of patients in the country’s medical institutions should be reduced. However, the doctor does not admit a complete restriction on the work of health care institutions.
“It just came to our attention then. It is also declining at the moment, not like it used to be. But we may not agree that everything should be closed, our opinion is really different. It would not make sense to re-announce a strict quarantine and close all the institutions, ”said Ž. Gudlevičienė.
The head of the Lithuanian Medical Movement points out that the situation in medical institutions is already tense, but if they were closed or restricted due to the threat of Covid-19, it would become even more tragic. Furthermore, according to Ž. Gudlevičienė, the number of patients is increasing, as some of them have had the opportunity to visit doctors after quarantine.
“Patients are already complaining that they are not receiving services, they have not yet been restored with the same intensity as before the quarantine. The queues, as we say, are formed between those who have registered and those who are also registering who have not received services during the quarantine. Work has already been significantly interrupted.
If we shut everything down again and don’t allow patients to go back to medical facilities, then total chaos, collapse. Then really the patients would suffer. If there have now been a minimal, slightly higher number of neglected chronic cases, then the situation could become more tragic. Then we would really talk about the increase in death rates from other diseases, “predicted the doctor.
Ž. Gudlevičienė has no doubt that patients are already using a kind of “window” between the end of the quarantine and a possible second wave of Covid-19, because he does not know when it will be possible to return to the doctor.
“It just came to our attention then. Only that access to services is still limited because distances still have to be maintained, time intervals have to be maintained between those patients. However, my idea would be that if there is a second wave, don’t close those institutions, really take care of a sufficient and adequate amount of protection measures both for all employees and for patients ”, emphasized the head of the Lithuanian Medical Movement.
A long pandemic awaits
The portal tv3.lt recalls that the World Health Organization (WHO) warned last week that the coronavirus pandemic is likely to be “long”.
The WHO said in a report that the emergency committee “emphasized the expected long duration of this Covid-19 pandemic” and warned of a “fatigue response” given the socio-economic pressures on countries.
The Emergency Committee met last week to discuss the decision made on January 30 to declare the Covid-19 outbreak an international crisis.
“The WHO continues to rate the global risk level of Covid-19 as very high,” the organization said after the meeting.
Since the virus originated in China last December, it has claimed at least 680,000 lives worldwide. at least 17.6 million lives. cases of infection, according to data from the AFP news agency collected from official sources.
The committee, made up of 17 members and 12 advisers, unanimously agreed that the pandemic remained an international public health emergency.
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