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The State Audit Office of Latvia has concluded in the audit that palliative care is not a full-fledged part of healthcare in Latvia because the prerequisites have not been ensured to create a palliative care system in accordance with the needs of patients, and it is not provided effectively at all levels of healthcare.
Palliative care is a set of multidisciplinary services that improve the quality of life of patients and their families who face a life-threatening and incurable disease, preventing the further development of the disease as much as possible, as well as preventing and alleviating physical pain and moral suffering. As a disease progresses, treatment loses its importance gradually, while the need for palliative, including end-of-life or hospice care increases. Palliative care and hospice care share the same goal, so these terms are often used interchangeably. However, hospice care is only provided during the last six months of a patient’s life.
Palliative care is not provided to all patients who might need it. For example, 12,000 patients received state-paid palliative care in 2022 while according to the estimate of the State Audit Office of Latvia, at least 21,000 people would have needed it. The audit has found that this is once again the case when the Ministry of Health does not have data, that is, data about the needs of palliative care in the country. It only has data on palliative care patients who have already received some service.
