Emergency departments see fewer minor cases as serious visits rise

Emergency departments recorded nearly 11,000 fewer visits in the first nine months of this year than in the same period last year, but visits by people with more serious complaints increased, ERR reported, citing data from the Estonian Health Insurance Fund.

Visits in the green triage category, for less serious health concerns, fell by almost 15,000. At the same time, visits in the other triage categories rose by nearly 3,800 combined, leaving emergency departments under continued overall pressure, the fund said.

Marit Märk, head of the emergency medicine centre at North Estonia Medical Centre, said the hospital had seen fewer green-category visits but more patients with serious conditions, including people arriving by ambulance who needed quicker treatment.

Hospitals have reported different trends. At Tartu University Hospital, green-category visits have risen somewhat from last year but remain below the 2024 level, said Kaarel Uba, a doctor in its emergency department. The hospital recorded 15,883 self-referred visits for minor concerns in the first nine months of 2024, 13,991 in the same period of 2025 and 14,259 this year.

Liis Kruus, a primary care portfolio manager at the Health Insurance Fund, said the rise in visits for more serious concerns made it even more important for people to receive the right care at the right time and place. The fund’s development plan includes strengthening primary care and expanding the use of e-consultations. It also aims to address cardiovascular diseases earlier so that people’s conditions do not become serious enough to require emergency care, she said.

Märk said some people still go to emergency departments for issues that could be handled by a family doctor’s practice or a pharmacy. Summer examples include tick, wound-suture and earwax removal; in autumn and winter, people also come in with runny noses, coughs, fevers and other symptoms of viral illnesses.

She said the drop in minor visits was noticeable: the hospital handled about 250 to 300 visits for tick removal in summer 2025, compared with around 60 by mid-August this year.

Looking ahead to the viral illness season, Märk said emergency departments were not the place to go solely to confirm flu or another viral infection. People with mild symptoms can usually treat and monitor themselves at home during the first days of illness, use a rapid test bought at a pharmacy if needed, and ask a pharmacist for advice on easing symptoms.