That reported the Ministry of Health (MSP) Personal medical consultations will be resumed compulsory from 1 March in public and private providers across the country for general medicine, pediatrics and gynecology, and that they will resume all specialisms a month later.
Authorities reported this on Tuesday due to the drop in the number of daily cases of covid-19 and the “stabilized number of patients in critical care” a “standardization plan” of care in health centers, with the aim of resume care for personal medical consultations at pre-pandemic levels within 120 days (four months).
The ministry reported this on Wednesday Institutions must submit the institutional plan by March 15 for the gradual recovery of care and preventive activities “Without compromising the reserves of health resources needed to continue the response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the statement said.
The first consultations that will resume compulsory attendance will be those of general practice, pediatrics and gynecology from 1 March, with no less than three consultations per hour, supplemented by telemedicine.
From April 1, the mandatory nature of face-to-face consultations will be extended to the rest of the medical care specialisms with priority in the care of chronic non-communicable diseases.
On the other hand, the MSP indicates that, depending on the evolution of the pandemic, it is expected that by September the “indicators of accessibility and sanitary production” have been reached at levels comparable to those of September 2019
The Chairman of the Coordinator of Collective Medical Assistance Institutions Carlos Cardoso said this change will affect the exceptional measures implemented in the most critical departments in terms of covid-19 cases, such as Montevideo, Canelones, Rocha, San José and Rivera. .
“The rest of the departments were present with the June 2020 regulations, which established up to three patients per hour in person and two for telemedicine and then the need to have 25% of the free beds on the intensive and moderate care. to return to a method already known in other departments, namely providing care through capacity that allows operations to be carried out and time for vaccines to arrive, health personnel are vaccinated and immunization is complete ” , he said in an interview with Informal breakfast
The institutions hope that by the end of March, health personnel will be vaccinated, helping to immunize the age-threatened population.“Meeting 50% of the forecast would significantly reduce the community’s contagion chains. That would increase the turnout of people at consultations and surgeries,” said Cardoso.
During the pandemic, between 12,000 and 14,000 operations were delayed to prioritize beds in case of need for care of patients with covid-19. Cardoso was convinced that if the vaccination of health personnel takes place, it will be updated “in a few months”. In any case, he stressed that the postponement of operations was not only due to the decisions of the MSP, but also to the fact that “some people decided not to do them at the time”.
Regarding diagnostic studies, Cardoso explained that performance decreased by 20%, adding that this is also due to personal decisions.
The Honorary Scientific Advisory Group (GACH) had warned that the The effects of the pandemic on pathologies not associated with covid-19 need to be urgently considered. For example, a report from the group noted that by 2020 there was an 80% reduction in PAP test performance, 66% fewer mammograms, 73% fewer tests for occult blood in the stool, and 28% fewer patients with cancer. services, compared to those performed in 2019.
In this regard, Cardoso noted that these concerns are also shared within the institutions. “Those not investigated will have priority in rearranging.