Hospitals are trying to alleviate the overload of emergency medicine departments (EMO). They are hiring specialists who help patients with minor health issues. These specialists have been working since May, for example, at the North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH) and the East Tallinn Central Hospital (ITK). Both hospitals want more cooperation with family doctors.
The hospitals want to refer patients who do not require emergency medical care to family doctors. Currently, EMO cannot do this because the regulation requires that visits must end with a specialist doctor or nurse consultation. The new idea is that EMO could refer patients to family doctors.
Family doctors want to quickly implement a unified triage system. This would mean that patients are directed to the right place where they need to go to solve their health issue. Telephone triage is also an option so that patients do not have to come to the hospital.
The head of the Estonian Family Doctors' Association, Elle-Mall Sadrak, says that family doctors have been talking about the need for a unified triage system for years. This system should also be accessible to the patients themselves. A unified triage system works successfully in many countries.
According to Sadrak, the Manchester triage system in England would be suitable for Estonia. Currently, the Health Insurance Fund is calculating how much this system would cost. Redirecting patients to family doctors would not bring a significant increase in workload.