The Ministry of Social Affairs wants hospitals and care homes to stop using ambulances as a taxi service to transport non-emergency patients. But who will pay for an alternative service?
Ambulances are intended for transporting patients in critical condition, but hospitals and care homes sometimes use them like taxis, for example, to take patients to medical appointments, the National Audit Office audit found.
Statistically, this is not a major issue. They account for 8 percent of trips in Lääne and Põlva counties, and 3 to 4 percent nationwide.
But each journey risks delaying an ambulance’s arrival to a patient in a life-threatening condition, said Nikita Panjuškin, head of the Health Services Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
“Take, for example, a patient who needs to be brought from Narva to Tallinn. Even with flashing lights, the trip takes two hours one way. The return trip without a patient—so without lights—takes about three hours,” he told “Aktuaalne kaamera.” “That means one transport call can take an ambulance crew out of service for about a quarter of their shift, which is already significant.”
More read: ERR.EE
