Characteristiscs of fatal patient cases out of Riga hospitals

¹ Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, Latvia
² Baltic International Academy, Latvia
³ Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvia

Abstract

Health care system becomes less accessible to the people in Latvia. Health insurance is practically destroyed from April, 2010. The aim of our study is to analyze reasons of death of persons who died out of hospital in Riga. We have investigated 130 post mortem examination protocols from Pathology centre of Riga Eastern Clinical university hospital. We have evaluated the information from family doctor and ambulance care medical staff. In our analyzed group 58% of persons were found dead at home without any medical aid but 25% – died in the ambulance car after call to public institutions. Alarming is fact that 43,8% of patients died at 4–5th decade of age. There was also such vulnerably group as homeless people. The most common reasons of death were acute and chronic variations of cardio-vascular and lung curable pathologies. In Latvia there is urgent necessity of costless medical offices for poor and defenceless persons. Patient’s delay in seeking medical help is the decisive phase for late diagnosis of diseases and mortality. It is necessary to renew health insurance system in Latvia. All levels of medical staff and students of medical universities must be involved in providing information on early disease symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options in different media.