Tartu University Hospital to cut posts as patient numbers fall

Tartu University Hospital is eliminating positions in departments where patient numbers have declined, ERR reported. Some employees fear layoffs, but hospital management says they will initially be offered the chance to move to other roles.

Staff told ERR that uncertainty and anxiety have spread over the future organisation of work. Some employees have even taken out legal expenses insurance because they fear losing their jobs.

No official notices have yet reached the maternity ward, but staff there are preparing for as many as 14 layoffs. One day-shift midwife position was already eliminated in the spring.

Saima Hinno, a member of the hospital’s management board, confirmed that work arrangements were being reviewed and positions would be closed where necessary. She said she could not yet provide a figure for the number of potential layoffs, as some reviews were still under way and some employees had already moved to other positions.

“We cannot keep more people in positions than we have funding for, and we do not have the treatment volumes to support them,” Hinno said, adding that the final number would depend on the hospital’s funding model.

Hinno did not specify which other positions or departments could be affected. She said, however, that the need for workers had increased in mental health services, and that employees could be offered positions in areas with greater staffing shortages. This could involve additional training, experience or further studies.

Maternity ward employees have so far been offered the option of working as surgical nurses or moving to the hospital pharmacy. Many would prefer to continue working in their trained profession and retain their professional qualifications.

Käthlin Vahtel, a board member of the Estonian Midwives Association, said midwives did not necessarily have less work because the number of births had declined. She said births had become more difficult over the years and that the workload also depended on the overall midwifery care each patient required.

Vahtel warned that reducing staff could significantly increase the workload of those who remain. She said the consequences might not become clear until the changes were implemented, noting that maternity care is an emergency healthcare service that can involve a large amount of work in a short period.

North Estonia Medical Centre and the women’s clinic of East Tallinn Central Hospital said they had no similar changes to positions or layoffs planned.