Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu stated that they are working on a new system that will allow patients using registered medications to get their medications from the pharmacy without going to the doctor to get a prescription every three months, as long as there is no change in their treatment.
In his statement to AA correspondent, Memişoğlu said that home health services have been restructured and that they have created a new system so that especially elderly and bedridden people can access health care without going to the hospital.
Stating that the need to receive health care has become an important support for the person as well as his family in old age, Memişoğlu said that they are reconsidering home health services in terms of technology, legislation and structure.
Memişoğlu reminded that home health services have been provided in Türkiye since 2005 and stated that this service has turned into a new structure.
Stating that they have restructured home health services, remote health services, palliative services and family medicine to work in coordination with each other, Memişoğlu said that home health coordination centers have been established to ensure the coordination of these four structures.
Palliative critical care areas were created
Pointing out that there are patients whose treatment is completed in intensive care but cannot leave the hospital because they are connected to the machine or need more frequent health and care support, Memişoğlu stated that this situation can create problems for both the patient and their relatives and other patients in need of intensive care.
Stating that they have defined "palliative critical care" areas for these patients, Memişoğlu stated that there are currently 747 palliative critical care areas in Türkiye.
Kemal Memişoğlu stated that in these areas, hospitals can receive health services such as intensive care support depending on the machine, and at the same time, relatives can visit the patient and said, "After these areas, if the patient no longer needs great health support, we have created what we call palliative services." he said.
Stating that there are 7 thousand 229 palliative care beds in public health facilities in Türkiye, 522 in university hospitals and 120 in private health facilities, Memişoğlu stated that with 747 palliative critical care beds, the total palliative care bed capacity has reached 8 thousand 618, and patients can be sent home when appropriate conditions are met.
Patients will be monitored remotely at home
Memişoğlu stated that the remote health services of patients sent home from the palliative service can be monitored via the electronic system.
Explaining that with this system, elderly patients can be examined remotely, their medications can be prescribed and necessary minor interventions can be carried out, Memişoğlu said that healthcare personnel can be sent to the patient's home if necessary.
Minister Memişoğlu stated that the patient's family was provided with the necessary training to support the care process, and that they aimed to ensure that even patients connected to the machine could be followed up in their own homes with the necessary supportive treatments.
Stating that the system is carried out with a software infrastructure that allows healthcare teams to keep each other informed about the patient's condition, Memişoğlu said:
"We have become able to provide healthcare services at home by sending a staff member who monitors and controls the patient remotely when necessary. We can even send people home with a medical support device and monitor them in their home environment with support treatment, connected to that device.
We are currently running the system as an example in two cities. We provide this service with a software infrastructure coordinated by the home health coordination center, where everyone is informed of each other and the patient is monitored one-on-one. We will spread this across Türkiye very soon. Essentially, we had a similar structure, but it was not supported by such an electronic system infrastructure. "Friends have done this successfully in two cities so far."
Home health report for those over 80 years of age
Kemal Memişoğlu said that they have started new practices in medicine, materials and disabled health report transactions so that the elderly can access health services without going to the hospital.
Stating that medicine, material and disabled health reports of people over the age of 80 have started to be prepared at home, Memişoğlu stated that the number of medicines that can be prescribed by family physicians has been increased.
Stating that family physicians' powers to prescribe drugs and prepare drug and material reports have been expanded, Memişoğlu said, "Today, we have made it possible to prescribe 1859 more drugs in addition to the existing ones. We have also ensured that drug and material reports can be prepared by family physician specialists." he said.
Memişoğlu stated that if a patient is examined by a specialist physician first and his/her medication is reported by the specialist physician, the patient's medication can be prescribed by the family physician as long as there is no change in the treatment in the following periods, thus preventing the patient from re-applying to the specialist physician every time he/she needs medication.
A new system is being prepared for reported medicines
Memişoğlu said that they are carrying out a new study that will make it easier for patients using registered medications to access their medications.
Minister Memişoğlu shared the following information:
"We asked the Ministry of Labor and Social Security for this and they are making preparations. Let's say a report has been written. You have a medication report for 6 months. Once a medication is prescribed, you can buy it directly from the pharmacy until the doctor makes a change about that medication. In other words, you do not need to go to the doctor again and get a second medication prescribed.
We are working on a system that will ensure that the drug can be purchased from the pharmacy in monthly doses during the valid period of the drug report. We hope to put it at the service of our people very soon.
Thus, we plan to make the medicine available to elderly people who have a medication report due to a chronic disease, as long as the medication report is valid, rather than having to go to the doctor every time to get their medication prescribed. We will provide comfort to our patients who use medications that are linked to more than one report and have to have these medications prescribed at different times.
This is also an important thing because we are trying to bring health care to our citizens. "We especially try to provide the elderly group with access to health care at home without coming to the hospital."
"We are trying to bring health care to our citizens"
Memişoğlu stated that elderly or bedridden people going to the hospital to have a blood test, being examined and receiving treatment brings with it risks such as infection and falling, and therefore emphasized that it is important to provide health services to the patient's location as much as possible.
Emphasizing that health services should not focus only on the treatment of diseases, Memişoğlu asked for more use of preventive health services.
"Society should demand health from us"
Stating that the society's most common request from the Ministry of Health is "treat my disease", Memişoğlu said that the priority in health services should be to support healthy living before the disease occurs.
Memişoğlu said, "Our main request from the society is that they demand health from us. They demand that they do not get sick. They demand that we support them on how to stay healthy. We are already ready for that." he said.
Calling on citizens to apply to family physicians and Healthy Life Centers, Memişoğlu stated that physiotherapist and dietitian services are provided free of charge in these centers.
Stating that cancer screenings and various examinations can be performed within the scope of preventive health services in family physicians, Memişoğlu said, "The important thing is that people stay healthy. A person lives healthy. He or she ages healthily." he said.
