Lapraka, Tirana’s administrative unit consisting of around 70 thousand inhabitants, is already equipped with a Healthcare Centre where electronic referral system is already operative. Thanks to the cooperation of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and Save the Children through a 230 thousand euro funding, the health centre is expanded and endowed with the necessary equipment, bringing forth new services which did not meet minimum conditions until recently such as children’s care service to obstetric-gynecological services and infants’ follow-ups. The centre is first-time equipped with obstetric-gynecological means and new medical apparatus which totally lacked. Prime Minister Edi Rama accompanied by Minister of Health, Ogerta Manastirliu inspected the new centre.
“It is a centre that offers extra services to mothers and pregnant women. There is a new ultra sound machine installed within the centre which was inexistent before and certainly new service is offered to mothers during pregnancy check-ups as well as contemporary conditions and standards to infants’ follow-up,” Minister of Health and Social Protection, Ogerta Manastirliu said.
“Three physicians and seven nurses were in a room and a small annex. Three physicians saw patients and did vaccine injections in the same room. Conditions were very difficult. The centre is utterly different and within contemporary standards as well as fully equipped to meet the needs of the specialists,” the Centre’s physician said.
“This service is in our health centre for the first time. There was no obstetric or gynecological ultra sound before to assist different emergencies, which is also mobile in cases of emergencies a pregnant woman might have by performing home-visits,” a gynecologist stated.
Electronic referral system to obtain services at the specialist physicians facilitates service from red tape. Likewise in other 36 health centers in Tirana and its suburbs as well as in the four specialty polyclinics including even this centre, the new system has started to function thus enabling online reservations to book appointments at the specialty physician by the family doctor hence it won’t be necessary for patients to wander around with papers on their hands and endless seals in order to see a physician.
“It is the first time that we have included a new system, the electronic referrals and examinations, in the 36 healthcare centers in Tirana and within the four specialty policlinics in the capital. The citizens can now avoid long waiting lines at the physicians by establishing via the electronic system the date and time of the visit. It is also of assistance to the physicians to maintain a history of the patients’ diagnosis and the service offered,” Minister Manastirliu stated. “Patients appear with their health card. The moment the ID is entered, patients’ history comes out. They write all complaints of the patient, the institution where the issue is solved such as in our case speciality policlinic No.3, the allergist is selected and the patient is asked on the choice of date and time,” the centre’s physicians explains the system function.
Infrastructure improvement of the healthcare centre is a priority to offering services within standards which citizens deserve.
“It is the only way to facilitate the entire hospital service and to separate primary care including immediate needs of the people to the specialized service afterwards provided in the large hospital centers. Otherwise, it would be impossible to do both of them and thus either one is done appropriately. We will improve 300 health centers in these four years,” Prime Minister Edi Rama stated.
“We have already started the investment programme on 300 healthcare centers in four years. This year we will begin the first 80 centers across Albania, in order to make healthcare centers, as the first door towards citizens’ services, have better standards and conditions as well as a plethora of services to the citizens,” Manastirliu said.
