This year, with the support of European Union funds, doctors’ assistants, nurses and nurses’ assistants have been recruited to Riga hospitals and the Emergency Medical Service (EMSS). A specialist, receiving such financial support, must work for a certain period of time in a hospital or emergency department. This is one of the initiatives implemented by the Ministry of Health in the field of human resources.
In 2022, a total of 177 specialists were recruited to work in Riga by implementing the European Social Fund’s project “Support for medical personnel to work in Riga and recovery measures in the health sector”. Of these, 12 are physician assistants, 67 are nurses, and 96 are nurse assistants. In Riga, one practice was taken over from a family doctor of retirement age, and the new doctor took over the work at this practice. A year earlier, in 2021, 104 medical personnel were recruited within the project, thus more specialists applied for and used financial support in the past year.
By meeting the conditions of the project, doctors can receive monetary compensation for a job in the public sector – providing citizens with state-paid health care services, as well as for family members and living expenses.
Financial support or monetary compensation can be received by nurses and nursing assistants if they choose one of the large inpatient facilities in Riga as their workplace: Paul Stradins Clinical University Hospital, Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, Children’s Clinical University Hospital, Riga Psychiatry and Narcology Center, Riga Maternity Hospital , Traumatology and Orthopedics Hospital and Riga 2nd Hospital. Medical assistants can receive support for a job at the NMPD.
As is known, the provision of human resources in the sector is generally insufficient, the employment of medical personnel is particularly uneven in the regions, but also in Riga there are challenges to ensure the work of hospitals, mainly due to the insufficient number of nurses and nursing assistants, but due to the specificity and intensity of the work of the EMS, it is problematic to attract and retain them in Riga hiring physician assistants. The aging of family doctors is also characteristic of Riga. The Ministry of Health is implementing measures in several directions to address the situation. Competitive remuneration for medical personnel is one of the most important aspects affecting the provision of human resources in the health sector; the number of state-paid residency places for young doctors is increased; projects co-financed by the European Social Fund are implemented, etc.
The selection period for applicants in this project is planned until September 30, 2023 or until the acquisition of available funding. The total eligible funding of the ESF project “Support for medical personnel to work in Riga and recovery measures in the health sector” is 3,000,000 euros, including co-financing from the state budget – 450,000 euros. The project is co-financed by REACT-EU funding for mitigating the consequences of the pandemic crisis. So far, EUR 2.25 million of the funding currently available in the project has been acquired, which is 81%.
More about ESF projects here: Homepage | talakizglitiba.lv
