Improving Access to Neurology Services in the Health Care System / Neurologijos paslaugų prieinamumo gerinimas sveikatos priežiūros sistemoje

The accessibility of neurology services has become an increasingly important issue in health care systems, due to the growing prevalence of neurological disorders, the shortage of specialists, regional inequalities, and increasing waiting times. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accessibility of neurology services, and identify opportunities for improving service accessibility in the health care system. The study employed a literature review and a mixed-methods research design, combining a quantitative patient survey with semi-structured qualitative interviews with neurologists. The overall accessibility index for neurology services was 3.49. Geographical accessibility received the lowest evaluation (M = 2.7), while informational (M = 4.3) and social-emotional accessibility (M = 4.4) were rated most positively. The findings showed that 70.4% of respondents chose private health care institutions because of the long waiting times in the public sector, and 56.3% because of the shortage of specialists. Limited accessibility also influenced patient behaviour, as some respondents avoided consulting a neurologist, or sought private care primarily to obtain faster access, rather than because of differences in treatment quality. The results suggest that the challenges of accessibility to neurology services are systemic, and require not only increasing service capacity, but also improving the organisation of health care services.