The following palliative care services are known to exist in Estonia.
Existing Services (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Freestanding
0
- Hospital Unit
0
- Hospital mobile team
0
Nursing Home
0
Home Care
9
Day Care
0
Total
9
Paediatric
Inpatient
0
Home Care
0
Day Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Grand Total
9
Current Projects
The following palliative care projects are known to exist in Estonia; these are not yet operational services
Known hospice/ palliative care projects (2002)
Adult
Inpatient - Hospital
0
- Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Paediatric
Hospital
0
Hospice
0
Home Care
0
Unspecified
0
Total
0
Grand Total
0
There are nine palliative home care services in Estonia, based in major population centres within seven counties and serving mainly patients with cancer. These teams usually consist of a doctor, nurse and voluntary support person. Seven teams, with two more to follow, have received training from Kaiu Suija, a Tartu-based practitioner-lecturer and co-ordinator in home care for the Estonian Cancer Society.
The home care service in Tallinn, under the leadership of Professor Vaino Ratsep, was established in 1997. Tallinn is also the base for the Estonian Cancer Centre, which covers two-thirds of the country’s population. The Tallinn service cared for 86 patients in 2000, with 6 weeks the average duration of care, a period limited by financial constraints rather than by patient requirements. Availability of hospital beds is a problem as hospitals refuse to admit patients in need of symptom relief only. The Cancer Centre also provides a stoma unit, a rehabilitation programme, a cancer pain unit and the services of a speech therapist.
Estonia has a nationwide helpline giving advice about cancer-related problems. The service is free of charge and is staffed by doctors and oncological nurses, Monday to Friday, four hours per day.
There is a desire to establish 2 or 3 regional centres for palliative care, but this is restricted by inadequate finances and a lack of trained personnel. Some training from abroad has been provided by the Finnish Cancer Society (2 days in 1996 and 5 days in 1997), and by the University of Tampere, Finland (4 weeks, 2000-1).
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