The Care Mobile
RMHC Latvia’s mission is to create, find and support programs that directly benefit the health and well-being of children in Latvia. In collaboration with the doctors of the Children’s Clinical University Hospital, we travel all over Latvia to visit families with children and provide access to medical services to children closer to their homes, where the lack of medical specialists, or other challenges or inhibitors make it difficult for children to receive timely, quality medical services.
Our children’s Care Mobile provides by a paediatric otolaryngologist, paediatric neurologist, ophthalmologist, optometrist, physical and rehabilitation medicine doctor, speech therapy specialist, allergist, paediatric pulmonologist, paediatric endocrinologist, paediatric gastroenterologist, dermatologist and paediatric surgeon/orthopaedist.
There are a limited number of regional medical institutions outside of Riga that offer specialists’ consultations specifically for children. Our Care Mobile is therefore essential for providing basic healthcare to Latvia’s children – especially in rural areas.
The results of medical consultations and diagnoses are recorded in a database that allows statistics to be compiled on the health situation of children. In order to ensure continuity of consultations for chronically ill children, the Care Mobile visits almost every outreach site (urban or rural) several times a year. Our specialists also maintain contact, where necessary, with local doctors responsible for the child’s further treatment and follow-up.
Medical consultations are provided in a 12-metre long vehicle specially adapted for the provision of diagnostic and preventive medical services. It has a waiting room and two doctors’ cabinets – one of which is especially suited to ophthalmologist (eye doctor) consultations – with all the necessary diagnostic equipment. Daily work is handled by the programme administrator who is responsible for liaising with our doctors and outreach coordinators, planning the outreach schedule, providing transport for doctors to the outreach site, and documentation management.
Why do we visit you?
We work closely with our regional coordinators – municipality social services, GPs, schools, pre-schools and other NGOs – to choose the right places to go. Regional coordinators are the ones who have the knowledge of the needs of a particular community and who know their patients, the more complex cases and the children who need more specific investigations. Our program is tailored to the needs of children in each municipality, providing the appropriate specialist medical services.
The “Care Mobile” doctors examine children, make new diagnoses or add to existing ones, make recommendations, and, if necessary, refer children to the Children’s Clinical University Hospital for additional examinations. Cooperation with doctors in the regions is very important for us, as they are the ones who further organize and manage the recovery process of a given patient. Cooperation and continuity ensure that the child receives complete health care. We help doctors in the regions of Latvia to provide much-needed services to children closer to home.
Do parents have to pay for our services?
Children under 18 do not have to pay for examinations. A referral from a general practitioner is also not required. However, we would be grateful if information/medical documents about the child’s health condition could be brought to the consultation. This would facilitate the work of our specialists and save time during the examination. When coming to the consultation, you must bring proof of identity with your child’s personal identification number.
How many children can the children’s “Care Mobile” accommodate per day and per visit?
Two doctors are usually present per visit. The working day starts at 10:00 and one specialist can see 20 children, spending 15 to 20 minutes per child. It is important to us that every child receives full and quality medical care, so it is very important to remember that our doctors see children by appointment. Appointments with our specialists are organized by our coordinators in the regions – family doctors, nurses from pre-schools and schools, regional municipalities and their social services staff and representatives of partner NGOs.
