Number of people on special care home waiting lists in Estonia doubles in 6 years

The Ministry of Social Affairs will request an additional €200 million over the next four years in this fall's state budget negotiations to create new special care service places and raise wages for employees working in special care homes, Secretary General Maarjo Mändmaa tells ERR.

At the beginning of April, there were about 2,000 people on waiting lists for special care homes. Of those, around 800 would have been prepared to move into a special care home essentially the very next day if a suitable place had been available. What is the situation now, at the beginning of June?

In fact, the figures are more or less the same. That applies to those who specifically need places in special care homes, but there are also people who need support services that enable them to live in the community.

I understand that we are talking more about places in special care homes, since establishing them is more expensive and takes more time. However, I think it is also very important to keep in mind that we need community-based support services first and foremost.

That means that if a person with special needs is born with a disability or develops one as a result of illness, they should have access to assistance close to home where they can receive support and care.

In fact, the National Audit Office published a report in the fall showing that the number of people on waiting lists for special care services in Estonia nearly doubled between 2018 and 2024. Despite growing demand, however, the number of places has actually decreased. How did that happen?

Alongside the National Audit Office's review, the Social Insurance Board (SKA), which is responsible for organizing the provision of these services, has consistently collected information and shared it with the public showing that not all of these people want to enter care immediately after their need for the service has been identified.

The SKA has now personally contacted everyone on the waiting list by phone and it has emerged that many people say they do not wish to begin receiving the service right away. A useful comparison for listeners is a place in a kindergarten: when a child is born, they are immediately placed on a waiting list so that once the parental benefit period ends and the parent wants to return to work a couple of years later, the child can move from the waiting list into kindergarten.

For that reason, there has not been an approach of saying, "We need to start building care homes immediately." There are simply many people on the waiting list who say they are not ready yet, that they need more tim