If you have the symptoms of a disease or wish to check your health condition, the first medical professional to turn to is your general practitioner (family doctor).
You have the right to choose a general practitioner (family doctor) and to register in the list of patients. You also can change the general practitioner that you use and re-register.
A general practitioner:
- examines a person’s overall state of health
- diagnoses and treats common acute and chronic diseases
- provides information about preventive measures
- issues prescriptions for medicine
- performs vaccinations
- issues referrals when diagnostics, consultations by specialised medical practitioners and/or specialized medical treatment are required, etc.
In Latvia, the care provided by general practitioners (having a contract with the State) is included in the State paid medical assistance minimum.
Read more about State-paid health care services in this Guide.