Family doctor in Latvia

A family doctor works in primary care. They follow a patient over years, treat acute and chronic illness within their scope, run preventive check-ups and vaccination, issue prescriptions and sick-leave certificates, and decide when a specialist or a test is needed. One practice can hold up to 1,800 registered adults or 800 children.

• Respiratory infections, fever, cough, blocked nose
• High blood pressure, cholesterol, type 2 diabetes
• Back, joint and abdominal pain
• Skin rashes and allergic reactions
• Vaccination under the national schedule and before travel
• Annual preventive check-up and screening referrals

For most everyday illness the family doctor is enough. A specialist is needed when the diagnosis stays unclear after first-line tests, when the illness does not respond to treatment, or when a procedure is required that primary care does not perform.

Referral (nosūtījums)

the document without which a specialist consultation or test will not be state-funded.

Patient co-payment (līdzmaksājums)

the patient's share of a state-funded service, with the rest covered by the state budget.

Practice base territory

the area whose declared residents the doctor must accept onto the patient list.

Acute hour (akūtā stunda)

the part of the day kept for suddenly ill patients without an appointment.

Sick-leave certificate

the electronic record of temporary incapacity opened by the doctor in e-veselība.

E-veselība

the national system holding prescriptions, referrals, sick-leave certificates and test results.

Preventive check-up

a planned visit with no complaints: blood pressure, risk assessment, referrals for blood tests.

Continuing education points (TIP)

training credits a doctor collects to renew certification.

1. 1Open Health Inspectorate - register of medical practitioners (registri.vi.gov.lv) (opens in a new window).
2. 2Enter the doctor's surname or practitioner identifier in the search box.
3. 3Find the person and confirm the listed specialty reads exactly "Ģimenes (vispārējās prakses) ārsts".
4. 4Check the certificate validity date. If it has expired, or the entry shows a permit or an adaptation period instead, there is no valid specialty certificate.
5. 5If anything is unclear, see the register explanation page (opens in a new window).

• Languages. Consultations run in Latvian, many doctors also work in Russian, fewer in English. Confirm this when booking rather than at the visit.
• Experience. Where a doctor runs a teaching practice or supervises residents, the practice or university page says so.
• Age groups. Some practices register both adults and children, others adults only.
• Access. Ask about the acute hour, how home visits are requested, and whether remote consultations are offered.
• Second opinion. Patients may freely choose their doctor and institution. To change family doctor, agree the re-registration with the new practice first. Nothing needs to be settled with the previous one.

In a state-contracted practice you pay only the patient co-payment: 2.00 EUR per visit under 65 and 1.00 EUR from 65. A home visit in the defined cases is 2.85 EUR. Co-payments in one calendar year are capped at 570.00 EUR, and several population groups are exempt. In a private practice the patient or insurer covers the full fee, and tests ordered by a private doctor are also paid privately.

If you have doubts about the quality of care, raise them first with the institution's management: since 1 October 2017 every treatment institution must operate a complaints and suggestions system. If the answer does not resolve it, a written submission goes to the Health Inspectorate no later than two years after the alleged infringement, and is reviewed within 30 days, extendable to four months in complex cases. The submission must state your name, personal identity number, address, the institution, the treatment dates and contact details, and must be signed. The procedure is set out on the Health Inspectorate site (opens in a new window).