Lithuania plans one-stop system for long-term care

Lithuania’s Ministry of Social Security and Labour and Ministry of Health are preparing a long-term care services bill that would provide social and healthcare services through a single “one-stop” system, LRT reported.

Social Security and Labour Minister Inga Ruginienė said the planned system would be personalised, respond to the needs of people and their relatives, and prevent services from being duplicated.

“A person should not have to worry about which institution is responsible for nursing and which is responsible for social assistance. The person should simply receive one service through a unified support system,” Ruginienė said at a news conference on Wednesday.

She said the one-stop approach would simplify applications, assessments and access to services, while reducing the bureaucratic burden on staff and allowing them to spend more time providing assistance.

Almost 54,000 people used long-term care services last year, according to Ruginėnė. She said the system needed to adapt as Lithuania and Europe faced ageing populations and demand for such services increased.

Needs assessed once

Health Minister Linas Kukuraitis said efforts to combine nursing and care services into a unified system had been under way for more than a decade. A concept for such a system was developed under the 17th government, while a later government sought to coordinate nursing and care services.

Kukuraitis said the main issues had now been agreed and that a package on the long-term care system was expected to be submitted to the Seimas in the autumn.

One of the key proposed changes would be a single assessment of a person’s needs. The assessment would determine both the person’s needs and the package of services required, whether at home, through day care or in an inpatient facility.

Kukuraitis said combining the systems would not reduce either social or healthcare services. Palliative nursing would remain part of the healthcare system, while some treatment and nursing services would be transferred to the long-term care system.

He said the period would be shortened to two months so that, from the first day a traumatic event occurred and nursing was needed, an assessment of the need for long-term care could begin immediately.