The coronavirus showed a realistic picture: while some in line await death, others make their way without problems

“Maybe I’ll die”

Agnė Bilotaitė, chair of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission and representative of the Lithuanian Christian National-Democratic Union (TS-LKD) faction, emphasized at the commission’s working group meeting that the quarantine had only exposed a long-standing problem.

“But as you know, the coronavirus pandemic probably revealed what the problems with the queues have been for a long time, we will probably all agree. It was simply that the submandis revealed and highlighted certain serious challenges, ”said the politician at the commission meeting.

In preparation for this session, the MP contacted oncology patients waiting in long lines.

“It is really difficult to receive treatment at the moment, but to get to a private institution, there are really no problems today. One question here is why this is so. (…) What has become clear when talking with patients, if you want to get a service, if something happens to you, you have to turn to acquaintances and other ways to give you a certain service that you need ”, he said.

A. Bilotaitė read several testimonies from cancer patients.

“It is difficult to be caught, I registered in early August, I will only arrive at the end of November. Or maybe I will die in such a long time. If everything had been faster, maybe the disease would have been noticed earlier, but unfortunately”, – A. Bilotaitė read aloud the testimony of a patient in the commission’s working group.

“I am in remission, I have to check every six months, but it is not possible to register for a routine checkup, I have not checked for more than a year,” the politician read the second testimony of a patient.

In July, he appointed computed tomography of internal organs, the closest being October 1. He also prescribed MRIs of the head in July, the exam will be done only in late September. Before quarantine, it was quicker to go to specialists for a routine inspection. And now you have to wait 2 months, you have to wait 2-3 weeks with your GP.

Documents need to be processed to extend disability, I submitted National Cancer Institute documents in May, but so far they have not been processed. When it was ordered during the day last year ”, the parliamentarian read the stories at the commission’s working group meeting.

Compared to deminers

The Special Investigation Service (STT) presented the analysis of the Prosecutor’s Office on the risk of corruption in the registration of people on waiting lists for personal health care services and in the management of these queues.

STT Deputy Director Rūta Kaziliūnaitė stated at the meeting that the corruption risk analysis was conducted last year.

“The analyzes were done before the pandemic situation, which had a very negative effect on access to doctors, increasing the risk of corruption,” he said. R. Kaziliūnaitė stated that the recommendations listed by the service last year should apply even now.

Arūnas Staknys, an official from STT’s Corruption Prevention Board, presented the results of the analysis.

“Our main objective was to identify both the concerns expressed by patients and the media about transparency in queues and assess whether there are risk factors for corruption. Also, to present proposals ”, said a representative of the STT.

The labor practices of 20 medical institutions belonging to the National Health System were evaluated, for which reason not only large medical institutions were selected, but also regional, secondary medical institutions.

At the commission’s working group meeting, A. Staknys showed a photo illustrating the fundamental problem: a line of people at the door of a medical institution barely an hour and a half before its opening.

“Who needs a live queue if the medical institution declares that it also provides for electronic registration, uninterrupted registration, waiting for the queue to form.” Here I was struck by such an easily cynical statement from the director of this Vilnius medical institution that there are very few people waiting here. So you think everything is fine here, ”STT representative A. Staknys said Wednesday morning.

He said the treatment facility made no secret of the fact that they have the option of being placed in a waiting queue and are using it to circumvent the legislation. Sometimes this is done, depending on the treatment center, due to patient complaints being avoided.

“Until now, there is no unified and patient-oriented registration system, there is no unified work practice. To put it bluntly, today the patient is like a deminer in every treatment facility, which is the equivalent of entering a minefield. that he is unaware of and try to find his way to the other side of that field, ”said the head of the STT.

STT Deputy Director R. Kaziliūnaitė said she believed medical institutions could not ignore the situation identified in the analysis.

Named patient problems

Vida Augustinienė, President of the Council of Representatives of Lithuanian Patient Organizations, spoke at the commission meeting about the problems faced by patients.

“During the quarantine, the relatives and specialists of the institution did not provide information on how to reach the doctors and the registration became more difficult. The redundant requirement is electronic submission for each visit. It is very difficult to contact family doctors, ”said V. Augustinienė about the examples.

“And when a remote consultation is scheduled, you cannot call yourself, you just have to wait for a call. I did not receive that call myself, then I saw that my registration had already been canceled,” said the president of the Council of Representatives of the Lithuanian Patient Organizations.

He emphasized that remote consultation is definitely not suitable for all patients, some do not remember what they were told, it is simply not possible to check some diseases by phone, not everyone can take photos and send them to doctors.