Tallinn hospital staff issue appeal over shortages, burnout after sacking

The firing of a respected and long-serving gynecologist has brought in focus issues including staff overwork and critical shortages at a Tallinn hospital, Eesti Ekspress wrote.

West Tallinn Central Hospital (LTKH) on Thursday fired gynecologist Piret Veerus, the chief physician and head of the hospital's women's clinic.

Eesti Ekspress added the situation at the hospital is "explosive," with employees leaving in droves and nearly half the vacant positions unfilled.

In a public appeal, staff at the LTKH Women's Clinic (Naistekliinik) warn that management problems, staff shortages, and the departure of specialists may jeopardize the quality of care and patient safety for women and newborns. The appeal was also sent to Minister of Social Affairs Karmen Joller (Reform), Tallinn Deputy Mayor Riina Solman (Isamaa), LTKH and Tallinn Hospital (Tallinna Haigla) supervisory boards, as well as the Estonian Medical Association (Eesti Arstide Liit), the Estonian Society of Gynecologists (Eesti Naistearstide Selts), the Estonian Pediatric Society (Eesti Lastearstide Selts), the Estonian Perinatology Society (Eesti Perinatoloogia Selts) and the Estonian Midwives Association (Eesti Ämmaemandate Ühing).

The hospital cited as its reason for Veerus' dismissal a patient death which occurred in the anesthesiology clinic earlier this year. A terminal cancer patient with multiple co-morbidities had died in intensive care the day after major surgery. Documentation which appeared Thursday evening in the Ministry of Social Affairs' register however painted a picture of staff exhaustion and overwork.

The document, a letter signed by 36 LTKH employees, contained an attachment which was minutes of a meeting held on May 7 between hospital staff and LTKH management board members Vallo Volke and Aleksei Gaidajenko. The minutes reveal, among other things, that only 44 of the 74 physician positions are currently filled and that staff are over-burdened and facing anxiety and burnout.

Head of the hospital's pregnancy and perinatal center, Dr. Konstantin Ridnõi, has also submitted his resignation; Ridnõi said he and Veerus had discovered a systemic error in the hospital's treatment billing system, in which while invoices for maternity services were submitted to the Health Insurance Fund (Tervisekassa), numerous additional services were not included in the comprehensive childbirth fee, even though reimbursement could also have been claimed for those services from the fund.

The appeal's signatories listed the most serious concern as being a shortage of anesthesiologists.

Joller on Thur