After a hospital stay or during a long illness, people often need regular medical procedures: dressings, injections, catheter changes or stoma care. If it is hard to get to a doctor on your own, these services can be provided at home, and in many cases the state pays for them.
What home care is
Home care is healthcare provided at the patient’s home by a nurse or physician assistant. It is not social care, so it does not mean help with housework. It means specific medical procedures prescribed by a doctor. Most often these are:
- giving medicines by injection or drip;
- caring for post-operative wounds, pressure sores and leg ulcers;
- urinary catheter and stoma care;
- inserting a nasogastric tube and feeding through it;
- monitoring the patient’s health and teaching relatives what to do.
Who qualifies
State-funded home care is available to patients who have limited mobility and whose doctor has prescribed medical procedures. This often applies to people after surgery or a hospital stay, older patients and people with a chronic illness. The doctor makes the final decision on whether home care is needed.
How to get it, step by step
- Talk to your family doctor or to the doctor treating you in hospital. If home care is justified, the doctor will give you a referral.
- Call us on +371 28 381 214 or send a request through our website. Tell us what kind of care is needed and where the patient lives.
- We agree on a time for the first visit. We start care no later than 24 hours after your request.
- At the first visit, the nurse or physician assistant assesses the patient and draws up a care plan with you: what will be done, how often and how to reach us if anything changes.
What to have ready for the first visit
If you can, put the doctor’s referral, the hospital discharge summary and a list of medicines somewhere easy to find. This saves time and helps make sure nothing is missed. It also helps if a relative is at home during the visit. We will show you how to look after the wound or stoma between visits and answer your questions.
If you do not have a referral
If you do not have a referral, or you need a procedure that is not in the care plan, you can also pay for it yourself. You will find our prices in the price list, and travel costs are added for home visits.
Where and when we work
We visit patients in Riga, the Riga region, Jūrmala and nearby municipalities. On weekdays we work from 08:00 to 20:00, and on weekends and public holidays from 09:00 to 16:00. The full list of areas we cover and answers to common questions are on the home care page.
