In Latvia, family doctors will be returned to their offices with the help of special surcharges

Now the number of doctorates is declining, especially in the Latgale and Zemgale regions, so it is necessary to achieve an influx of new forces into the industry. One of the solutions is additional payments to rural family doctors and the possibility of hiring an additional worker (funding for this is provided in the budget).

Possibilities for establishing closer cooperation between family doctors, including merging practices, are also being considered. Currently, a map of family physician practices has already been created, and negotiations are planned between the Ministry of Health and local governments to adapt the map according to their needs, based on the necessary infrastructure improvements and population changes. The characteristics of optimal practice are also conceptually outlined, including, for example, the optimal number of patients enrolled and expanded team composition (funding has been allocated in the government budget for additional staff).

To attract doctors to rural regions, additional payments are provided, and it is planned to use EU structural funds to restore the potential of the workforce. To attract young doctors, a number of measures are planned: improving planning for replacing family doctors, optimizing the cooperation of residency students with the National Health Service, optimizing funding for new practices.

The range of services provided by family doctors will also be expanded, with plans to revise the tariff for procedures performed in the practice of a family doctor, as well as introduce new ones (one of them is the CRO test, an important examination for detecting acute inflammation).

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