More than 300 medical personnel in 2022 have been recruited to work places in the regions using the funding available from EU funds for the health sector. To receive financial support from EU funds, a specialist must work in the region for a certain period of time and provide health care services paid for by the state.
Attracting funding from EU funds is one of the directions implemented by the Ministry of Health in the field of human resources in order to balance the availability of state-paid health care services. The goal is to improve mobility opportunities, the attraction and retention of doctors in the labor market throughout the territory of Latvia.
In the project of the European Union funds “Improving the availability of medical and medical support persons outside Riga” in 2022, financial support was paid to 322 medical persons in total, but in total within the project more than 1400.
During 2022, the most compensation applications were received from medical personnel in Latgale (117), Zemgale (78), Vidzeme (65), Kurzeme (47), Pieriga (15). Among the specialists recruited this year are:
• 46 doctors,
• 73 Sisters,
• 51 medical assistants,
• 15 physiotherapists,
• 6 midwives,
• 5 family doctors at retirement age transferred their practice to the new doctor,
• 123 Nursing Assistants etc.
The financial support that the applicant can receive if he meets all the conditions of the project includes monetary compensation for a job in a medical institution in the region, for family members and maintenance expenses in the initial period. The support is basically aimed at attracting new specialists and those doctors who move from Riga to the region. The involved doctors work in hospitals, family doctor’s practices, and the Emergency Medical Service. Taking into account the survey of medical institutions, audio speech therapists and art therapists were also included among the supported specialists this year.
Equitable distribution of health workers is important for the effective functioning of the health system. The challenges are the aging of medical personnel, external and internal migration to the private and ambulatory sector or outside the health field, which affects access to health care services, especially for people who live in regions outside of Riga and in rural areas. The project provides a financial incentive to attract people to the workplace, but the further issue is also the issue of cooperation with the medical institution. Among the important measures in the field of attracting human resources is also work on competitive remuneration; the number of state-paid residency places for young doctors is increased; implemented EU fund projects, etc. events.
The project has been running since the end of 2017. It is expected that the number of attracted medical personnel will reach 1,568. Currently, 1,414 medical personnel have applied for the project and received financial support. With the changes made this year, the total attributable funding for all project activities has reached 15,612,862 euros, including ESF funding – 13,270,932 euros and state budget funding of 2,341,930 euros.
The ESF project “Improving the availability of medical and medical support persons outside Riga” is being implemented until the available funding is acquired. Therefore, the Ministry of Health draws attention to the fact that, due to limited funding, the improvement of access to medical personnel outside of Riga implemented within the framework of the project may be suspended before the end of the specified project implementation period. Currently, 97% of the total funding currently available for attracting medical personnel has been acquired.
More about ESF projects: Home | talakizglitiba.lv
