The Vilnius resident tried to see a doctor for 5 months: He fears that doctors have found the derivative too late.

“Blood tests must be booked separately and after seeing a family doctor after approximately two weeks, you will receive an electronic referral. Upon receiving the electronic reference, you will only be consulted remotely. That is very little, you get medications And even in the end, at least in my case, so far, of course, I don’t know if it’s evil or not, but the bypass appeared, ”Zenon of Vilnius told LNK News.

Now the man fears that doctors have found the derivative too late and perhaps the disease has progressed.

“If I had been fucked directly, during the exam, I think urologists would have seen him before, not now,” fears the Vilnius resident.

Zeno is not the only one frustrated with the provision of medical care through quarantine. According to the Association of Oncology Patients (POLA), during the quarantine there were medical consultations with doctors, as well as diagnoses and procedures, and even the treatment itself, surgical services: chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

“About half of the people who requested the suspected cancer disease did not see a specialist during quarantine, and a third were asked to wait for the end of quarantine and only then to register for a consultation,” said Kornelija Kunigonytė , communication coordinator for POLA.

And even though the quarantine has ended, people with cancer still complain that medical care is not available to them, and the lines at doctors are even longer than before the quarantine.

“Perhaps the competence of the family doctor to diagnose an oncological disease over the phone after listening to the patient’s thoughts may not be enough. Perhaps the patient’s inability to specify his symptoms,” said Sonata Jarmalaitė, director of the National Cancer Institute ( IMI).

POLA believes that abandoned cancer patients have now become a targeted bomb, so it should come as no surprise that cancer incidence or mortality increases in six months.

“We will definitely see: You will see a doctor with a later stage of cancer, undiagnosed and diagnosed later.” In this case, the treatment will be longer, more expensive, more complicated and the chances of recovery may be less, “said K. Kunigonytė, a representative of POLA.

In the UK, around 2,300 new cancers were not diagnosed each week due to quarantine and inopportune services, and an estimated 18,000 patients will die in that country. In Lithuania, no such calculation has been made so far, and the Ministry of Health does not yet have an action plan on how to handle such a situation.

“Mortality is constantly monitored and we try to share that information with the public. So far, mortality is certainly not different from the statistical average. There have been countries where the increase in mortality is due to COVID-19, a deviation from the standard normal time or the monthly average has been observed, “said the Minister of Health, Aurelijus Veryga.

The chairperson of the Health Affairs Committee, as well as the “peasant”, defends the minister: that the action plan is not necessary for Lithuania, in addition, it would require too many funds.

“We should probably not compare ourselves to England, because we really see that medical services, especially in the management of this pandemic, are not examples of what we could compare,” said Asta Kubilienė.

In Lithuania, 18,000 people contract cancer each year, and 8,000 people die from this disease each year.

Comment from the State Health Insurance Fund of the Ministry of Health (VLK):

Queues at a particular medical institution depend on the ability of specific medical institutions to provide fewer or more services, their organizational and administrative decisions, and the popularity of the doctors who work there. In addition, the coronavirus brought corrections to the established rhythm of life.

As in all countries, as well as in our country, there are queues for planned assistance and ways are being found to shorten those queues. The goal is also to ensure that those patients who need urgent care, i. and. They cannot wait in line to receive such help on time.

It is no secret that people complain about long queues for doctors. Health insurance fund specialists constantly encourage residents to choose the treatment center or specialist with the lowest queue in case of a large queue.

And a few more important things to help patients stay stuck in the waiting lines. First of all, in case of illness, it is necessary to consult your family doctor who works in the primary health care institution where the person is enrolled. It is important to know that patients have the right to choose a health center and a family doctor. If a person is covered by compulsory health insurance (PSD) and the institution has a contract with the ICD, the patient receives free medical care.

After assessing the patient’s health status, the family doctor can refer the patient to a specialist doctor if necessary. If a patient receives a referral for scheduled services, such as a nephrologist or ophthalmologist, the examining physician decided that he did not need the necessary assistance, but a planned consultation with a specialist physician.

When issuing a referral, the patient must be informed in which at least 3 institutions provide the relevant personal health care services. The patient chooses which of them wishes to receive the health care services specified in the referral. It is also important to remember to register with a specialist within 30 days, as this is the time when the referral is valid.

Therefore, a patient with a referral can choose a specialist doctor at any health care institution that has a contract with the ICD of their place of residence to provide the necessary services. And the referring physician must provide information to the patient where these services are provided. In addition, information about health care facilities that have contracts with the ICD is published on all ICD websites.

Therefore, health insurance funds constantly encourage patients to search the waiting lines first before registering with doctors. Information about this can be found on the websites of medical institutions by calling the front desk of the medical institution.

Legislation stipulates that a patient with a referral must register the patient (on a paper or electronic waiting list for the services of the medical institution or in the electronic system) when requesting the provision of the service to the medical institution. The medical institution must offer the patient the first possible day of service. And if the patient refuses to receive the service the earliest possible day of its provision, register it according to a later date of your choice.

The personnel of the medical institution that must carry out the registry in an orderly manner are appointed by the head of the medical institution, therefore, in case of questions related to the registry, the administration of the medical institution should be contacted.

In addition, patients should not forget the date of their visit to the doctor and be on time. In fact, there are cases when patients who enroll in a doctor do not go to the medical institution. Therefore, patients who enroll in physicians are constantly reminded that they must be disciplined and, if there is any reason not to see a physician, inform them of this. I. and. cancel visit This is important because each absent patient extends the queue to other patients who need that help, perhaps more quickly.