Hospital in Lithuania. The photo is illustrative. Source: Freepik
«The therapist replied that I can get a comprehensive examination in the Kremlin»
Natallia (name changed) lives in Lithuania with her husband and three children. Over four and a half years, the family has visited many doctors in Vilnius.
«If you work legally and pay SoDra contributions (an analogue of the Belarusian Social Security Fund), then all medicine is free, as it was in Belarus. However, the level of state hospitals and polyclinics in Lithuania is many times higher than in Belarus. Their level of state polyclinics is the same as the level of private clinics like “Ekomedservice” or “Lode” in our country. And all doctors aged 35+ speak Russian,» says Natallia.
But there’s one caveat: appointments with highly specialized specialists have to be waited for months. If you want to see a doctor sooner, you can go to a medical center for a fee or use private insurance.
«They say that private clinics have a better level of service, but I didn’t see much difference. Here, the state medical insurance is excellent. In Lithuania, you will be served better for free than in a private service in Poland or Belarus. But if you need to see a doctor urgently, this is not evident. I had a case when I felt ill in May, and the doctor wanted to give me a referral for an appointment in August,» says the Belarusian woman.
Initially, Natallia also had private insurance through work, but eventually, the woman decided to refuse it — she didn’t notice any significant difference: «A full blood check-up costs around €150, a consultation averages €15–20, a vitamin D test — €30. My private package covered services up to €500 per month: overall, this was always enough. Only once did I do an extensive check-up in a private clinic with MRI, examination of all organs, a cardiologist, ultrasound, and all interpretations. All this came to €700, in the end I paid €200, the rest was covered by insurance.»
However, there’s no need to wait for non-specialist doctors even in the polyclinic: you can almost always see a therapist or pediatrician without a queue.
«Maybe I’m just lucky, of course, but when you go with children, they are generally very friendly and try to do everything very quickly. If a child gets sick, they put you out of turn. But the highest level of service, which makes all Belarusians almost faint, is when they call you back from a state polyclinic and tell you the test results. For us, this is just a shock! Meanwhile, many Lithuanians believe their medicine is bad. I say, guys, calm down, you have excellent medicine!» Natallia recounts.
There are no problems with emergency medical services, unlike in Poland: in the emergency department, they usually help promptly and you don’t have to sit in a queue all day.
«My husband once broke both his arm and leg. We could have called an ambulance, but I decided we would get there faster ourselves. I arrived with him at the department, put him in a wheelchair (they have wheelchairs everywhere there) and took a ticket in the electronic queue, — our interlocutor recalls. — We waited for about 15 minutes, then within half an hour they did everything — ultrasound, CT scan, put a cast on, and said that an operation would still be needed. To not torture him for long, two teams immediately performed the operation: one on his arm (together with plastic surgeons from another hospital), one on his leg.»
Natallia also highlighted the electronic system, where you can always find and view test results and prescriptions, instead of going to the doctor for them: «In Lithuania, electronic document management works very well, and the system improves more and more every year. If there were some bugs before, now it works great for them.»
During her entire time living in Lithuania, the Belarusian woman only once encountered discrimination based on nationality.
«Lithuanians generally have no rudeness, and they try to understand Belarusians. I only once had bad luck with a Lithuanian therapist. Somehow I asked: where can I get a comprehensive examination? And she said in Russian: «In a Moscow hospital.» I didn’t understand and asked where that was. She replied: «In the Kremlin.» Well, I, of course, went around her, and immediately changed my therapist. Maybe she was in a bad mood and decided I was from Moscow, I don’t know.»
«In Lithuania, all research results are displayed in a personal account — very unusual after the secrecy with medical records in Belarus»
Lera experienced two emigrations — first Ukraine, then Lithuania. In Lithuania, the girl experienced two hospitalizations and says that the experience was significantly different from Belarus.
«The diagnosis of «Recurrent depression» was made a long time ago, back in Belarus. Then came 2020, which deeply affected me. I tried taking antidepressants, but unfortunately, the medication was incorrectly chosen for me. Not only was there no joy left in life, but I also constantly lost consciousness, and at one point, I ended up in intensive care with very low blood pressure. It turned out this was a side effect of antidepressants. I swore off them — no more pills, just live on.
Meanwhile, in Belarus, the doctor wrote «Flu» on my sick leave, so as not to write depression. Otherwise, it would mean registration with the RNPC of Mental Health and many additional problems because of it. So my maximum for such sick leave was three days. Three days to somehow get out of the state of «wanting to die»,” says the girl.
According to her, the first years in emigration were lived «on adrenaline,» then the previous depression started to creep in:
«I remember walking through Vilnius and thinking: here you can fall from a bridge or from the terrace of this bar. I understood that these were not the thoughts that should be in my head: I had a responsible job, a child, and a husband. But at some point, I found myself on a bridge and realized I needed help. I just packed a suitcase with my belongings and came to admit myself to the Vilnius City Crisis Center.»
Lera was admitted to the hospital that same day, into a single room, and prescribed sedatives and sleeping pills. At the same time, they carefully monitored the effects and side effects: if something didn’t help, the medication was replaced:
«Two days later, I went out of the ward into the yard, and there were hammocks, swings, guys in groups doing yoga and drawing, someone having a picnic with relatives under the hospital windows. I was simply stunned — in Belarus, when I sought help, my acquaintances told me something completely different — they were mainly sedated with drugs, not allowed to go outside, only to look out the window through bars.»
The girl spent 10 days in the crisis center — thoughts of suicide were no longer present. But the treatment didn’t end there: for the next three months, Lera spent time in a day hospital at the polyclinic. All treatment was free, as the girl worked in Lithuania and made contributions to the state SoDra fund.
«After being discharged from the crisis center, I was immediately referred to a psychiatrist. In Europe, this is not a stigma, just an indication that you need a specialist. He offered me a day hospital for three months — group sessions, aromatherapy, music classes, yoga, psychologist consultations. In the first half of the day, I went to the polyclinic for all these procedures and classes, the rest of the time I was at home,” Lera recalls.
Depression has not returned since then, but the Belarusian woman’s visits to doctors did not end. One night she had to go to the emergency room — due to severe abdominal pain and vomiting:
«My husband drove me to the emergency room at night. If you squint your eyes to avoid seeing the signs in Lithuanian, it would be exactly like the emergency reception room in Minsk. And I had to wait no less there: although they quickly took my tests, performed a primary examination, ultrasound, and gave me painkillers, I never received a doctor’s conclusion. As soon as the pain subsided, I went home.»
As the system in Lithuania is completely centralized, the next day the doctor at the polyclinic reviewed all the examinations and announced the diagnosis — gallstones, laparoscopy is needed.
«In polyclinics, I didn’t see queues: you make an appointment, come at the appointed time — and that’s it. What surprised me in Lithuania: the patient can choose the clinic and the doctor themselves. So I went for a consultation with a surgeon at the chosen hospital, who later operated on me,” says Lera.
The food and wards were very similar to typical Belarusian ones, so the girl was only happy to be discharged the next day. But the attitude of nurses and doctors differed fundamentally from Belarusian ones — Lithuanians were friendly and very attentive:
«When you come to a doctor, your relationship is not based on the principle of «I want a sick leave — I won’t give it to you,» but «what hurts and how to help» — doctors are not stingy with referrals for tests, examinations, and consultations. Overall, in my personal experience, everything looks very good.»
Among other advantages is the electronic system, where you can view results in your personal account: «At the same time, the doctor will explain everything to you and prescribe medication, which is also very unusual after the secrecy with medical records in Belarus. In Lithuania, the system is such that all research results are displayed in your personal account. And you can see everything yourself, because your value and the normal value are provided. You can also get a blood test for vitamins, and the doctor will tell you what’s best to take. But in Belarus, you take tests — and you sit there guessing what’s wrong with you, then you ask the doctor.»
According to Lera, she did not encounter language problems in Lithuania: «Most often I spoke with doctors in Russian, sometimes in English. Even the group sessions at the crisis center were arranged for me so that they were mainly Russian-speaking. This means there were no language problems at all.»
The Belarusian woman believes that private insurance might be useful for those who frequently visit doctors and don’t want to wait for their turn for weeks. In all other cases, state medicine is usually sufficient: «At my previous job, I also had private insurance, but I never used it. However, colleagues, for example, went to private centers to avoid waiting for a specialist’s consultation. My issues were somehow quickly resolved at the polyclinic.»