Personnel provision of specialized medical care in the Zakarpattia region through the lens of war

Abstract

The aim of the study is to highlight the problems of staffing specialized medical care at the regional level in the process of healthcare reform in Ukraine and as a result of the impact of the war. Materials and methods: semantic method, statistical analysis and structural-logical analysis. Sources of information: official documents of the WHO and regulatory documents of Ukraine, the Center for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Zakarpattia Regional Medical Information and Analytical Center. Results. The proportion of specialist doctors is 83.6%, with medical positions in individual groups ranging from 54 to 591. There is an increase in the overall number of doctors from 7.4% to 1.1% against their decrease in Ukraine (for the dental group -13.7%). The staffing index is 90.7, with a deficit of medical personnel of 446.6 individuals, in district hospitals of the region – 86.3%, particularly in the regional children's hospital – 68.3% (-4.3), district hospitals – 88.7% (-1.8), and rural medical outpatient clinics – 83.5% (-4.1). Vacant positions amount to 597.35 (291.6 in district hospitals), particularly in urban and district hospitals (49.25 and 161.35), among therapists (22.25 positions), pediatricians (11 positions), surgeons (14.85 positions), obstetrician-gynecologists (13.75 positions), and dentists (7.75 positions). The provision index is 31.42 per 10,000, in terms of the number of doctors in district hospitals – 24.4. The proportion of pensioners in the region is 562.8 doctors or 7.8%. Conclusions. The impact of war on the staffing of specialized medical care in the Zakarpattia region is undeniable and requires new management approaches in healthcare, taking into account the state of reform implementation, regional peculiarities, and the impact of war.