Private health clinics and dental clinics will offer only emergency aid
The Health Board is suspending all planned treatments outside the national hospital network in order to stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Private health clinics and dental clinics will continue offering only emergency assistance. All scheduled treatments will be suspended in order to help to stop the spread of the virus and to save on personal protective equipment.
„The suspension of scheduled treatment is necessary in order to prevent the further spread of infection, to ensure the safety of emergency assistance, and to use existing personal protective equipment as efficiently as possible,’ said Merike Jürilo, Director-General of the Health Board. „At the same time, we might need the help of doctors and nurses working in the private sector when the burden on health care services increases and shortage of labour is increasing. “
The doctor will decide with the patient on the completion of the scheduled treatment that has already been commenced, assessing each individual case separately. It is certainly necessary to complete all scheduled treatments where the suspension of the treatment would endanger human health.
„As COVID-19 is extremely infectious disease, the risk of infection must be minimised. Therefore, this step was necessary in the interests of public health, scheduled treatments have to be postponed, and we need to guarantee emergency assistance,” said Piret Väli, Estonian Dental Association. “the more radical the measures are at the moment, the faster we can put a stop to the spread of the virus. The same decision has been taken by a large number of European countries.”
“Currently we are making emergency decisions in the emergency situation. We want to restore scheduled treatment as soon as the epidemiological situation allows it to happen,” Merike Jürilo added.
The suspension of scheduled treatment is made by every clinic themselves, and they advise the patients accordingly. The list of clinics offering emergency assistance can be found on the website of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund:
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