Interdistrict centers for providing medical care continue to be established in the Vitebsk region
– The past year has undoubtedly been very challenging. The Vitebsk region was the first to take the hit and began the fight against coronavirus infection. Many approaches used in the republic were tested precisely in the Vitebsk region. Today, the first and primary task is the organization of high-quality medical care. With the reduction in the rural population served by central district hospitals, it is necessary to create inter-district centers, provide high-quality medical care in them, staff them with highly professional specialists, and clearly define the patient's pathway to avoid long waits for medical assistance. The large inter-district centers being developed in Polotsk, Novopolotsk, and Orsha should work for the future, focusing on staff training, Elena Leonidovna emphasized.
The creation of inter-district centers in the Vitebsk region, concentrating high technologies and human resources, has primarily affected cardiology, neurology, and oncology services. Inter-district centers for providing care to patients with acute cerebrovascular accidents and X-ray endovascular services in Vitebsk, Orsha, and Novopolotsk have already proven themselves. Since this year, an inter-district thrombolytic therapy center based at the Braslavskaya Central District Hospital and an inter-district screening center for detecting oncological pathologies based at the Orsha Central Polyclinic have been operational.
There is currently a need to centralize the emergency medical care service. The first step in this direction was the renaming of the Vitebsk City Ambulance and Emergency Medical Care Station to the healthcare institution "Vitebsk Regional Center for Emergency Medical Care".
As reported by Mikhail Vishnevetsky, Head of the Main Department for Healthcare of the Regional Executive Committee, a plan of measures for the reorganization and re-equipment of this service is currently being developed. It involves the functioning of a central emergency medical care institution and the creation of inter-district centers within its structure, the first of which will appear before July 1 in Vitebsk by joining the city service with the departments of Gorodok, Shumilino, Liozno, Beshenkovichi, and Senno districts. To improve the material and technical base, repair work will be carried out in the departments, and 14 ambulances equipped with the necessary medical equipment will be purchased. Then, similar centers are planned to be opened in Orsha, Polotsk, and Glubokoye.
These approaches to organizing the work of the "103" service will allow for the centralization of call reception and transfer, and a unified automated management system will help to carry out a qualitative analysis of the assistance provided, remotely monitoring the real operational situation in each district. All this, in the final analysis, should improve the quality of emergency and urgent medical care in the regions.
The outpatient polyclinic service will also continue to move along a new path. The pandemic has somewhat stalled the work on the phased transition to providing primary medical care by general practitioners. At the same time, as of the beginning of the year, 301 general practitioners were trained in the region. In 2021, it is planned to form general practitioner teams covering at least 40% of the population.
The effectiveness of this innovation in real life is evidenced by the fact that in therapeutic areas where new format doctors work, the number of ambulance calls, hospitalizations of patients with chronic diseases, and referrals to narrow specialists is decreasing. Moreover, general practitioners are involved in screening programs for the early detection of diabetes mellitus, oncological pathologies, and cardiovascular diseases.
In addition, the republican project to create "caring polyclinics" continues to be implemented in the Vitebsk region; it has been successfully introduced in the regional center, Orsha, Polotsk, Verkhnedvinsk, Senno, and Novolukoml.
Healthcare in the northern region is constantly improving. Clinics are gradually being re-equipped, new diagnostic and treatment methods are being introduced, and high-tech care, once only available in the regional center, is becoming closer to rural residents. The issue of staffing is no less important, especially outside of Vitebsk. While the outflow of medical personnel from the region as a whole has decreased, the situation with doctors is ambiguous.
– If a young specialist comes to the periphery after university under the distribution system and is not provided with the necessary conditions, then after working the required term, they will leave. Staff retention is also within the competence of local authorities, so I would like the chief physicians of medical institutions to interact more closely on this issue with district executive committees, to provide information on staffing, – emphasized the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee Vladimir Penin.
As for those medics of the Vitebsk region who have proven their professionalism, loyalty to their chosen profession and their native region in practice, they have been awarded prizes from the Ministry of Health of Belarus, the Regional Executive Committee, the Regional Health Department, and the Vitebsk State Medical University. Several individuals have been awarded the badge "Excellent Healthcare Worker of the Republic of Belarus".
Also, within the framework of the collegium, the results of the regional review of the quality and culture of medical care for the population for 2020 were summarized. The best central district hospital was Postavy Central District Hospital, the best precinct hospital was Babinichi Precinct Hospital of Vitebsk City Polyclinic No. 7. The best doctor's outpatient clinic is located in the village of Kamen (Lepel District). Among the paramedic-midwife stations, Ponizovye Paramedic-Midwife Station in Polotsk District received the highest rating. In the nomination "Best Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology", the first place was shared by Orsha Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology and Braslav District Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology.