A challenging year when hospitals came to a crossroads! How many lives were saved at the Children’s Hospital?

Last year, the Children’s Clinical University Hospital (BKUS) provided a total of 334,475 outpatient and 15,876 inpatient services, the hospital’s representative Una Grenevica informed LETA.

The representative of the hospital noted that in 2019 the hospital managed to achieve the set goals in the areas of treatment, quality, personnel management and improvement of the patient experience. However, the experience of the Covid-19 crisis period confirms the need for greater investments in the implementation of infrastructure development projects and the renewal of the medical technology park.

Valts Ābols, Chairman of the Board of BKUS, reveals that limited resources are the biggest challenge for hospital management. “Today, when many successes in medicine are associated with the development of medical technologies, it is necessary to invest in the renewal and improvement of the technology park every year,” explained the Chairman of the Board of BKUS.

Last year, the shortage of staff accounted for almost 12%, however, according to the head of the hospital, the institution was still able to provide not only continuous assistance, increasing the amount of outpatient consultations, but also performed unique operations and developed new treatment and diagnostic options.

“I can describe 2019 as a challenging year, when hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital, came to a crossroads – on the one hand receiving additional funding to increase medical salaries for several health care programs, on the other – less than was initially communicated,” said Ābols.

Last year, the hospital also made significant improvements in research and preparation. With the introduction of the Patient Experience Survey for inpatients, the hospital receives daily feedback on family experiences, which allows for a better understanding of areas for improvement. “We have already started training staff in improving communication, performing a complete reconstruction of the kitchen and improving the entire catering process, as well as we have created an Improvement Program for the coming years,” explained Ābols.

This year, one of the hospital’s priorities is to improve the motivating work environment and attract the missing staff. Currently, according to the hospital representative, the work on the improvement of the remuneration system continues, the development of human resources is purposefully planned, the competencies and skills of employees are developed so that the Children’s Hospital is able to achieve an excellent treatment result.

“It is very important that medical staff can count on the statutory and receive an increase in remuneration in accordance with the plans of the healthcare industry,” commented the head of the hospital.

At the same time, 2020 has already introduced its own adjustments, which stipulate that in the future the hospital must reduce the consequences and risks of Covid-19 and increase preparedness, which means individual patient flow, single wards, individual temperature and air exchange ventilation, and other building functionalities. changes.

In 2020, 10.2 million euros have been allocated for the improvement of the infrastructure of the Children’s Hospital, for the improvement of the readiness of the hospital and for the implementation of the functional requirements in the emergency and outpatient stages. The improvements will affect more than 300,000 visitors a year, a hospital spokeswoman predicts.

96% of the children’s hospital’s budget consists of state funding. Last year, the budget of BKUS was 54.25 million euros, while the profit for the reporting year was 7505 euros.

The largest expenditure items were remuneration – 32,387,661 euros, medicines and medical supplies – 11,438,319 euros, while the total infrastructure maintenance expenses and investments for the operation of the hospital were 6,106,554 euros.

The Children’s Hospital is the only hospital in Latvia that provides multidisciplinary and tertiary level medical assistance to children, including the provision of assistance in the treatment of the most complex and rare diagnoses.