Hospitals Busy Reassuring Public Ahead of Impending Strike
Published: 19.09.2012 14:11
Photo: ERR
Tartu University Hospital assures it will not leave any patient in the lurch as doctors and nurses prepare to strike for better pay.
Management board member Mart Einasto said that everyone with an appointment in the first week of October will be personally contacted and further arrangements made.
Phones have reportedly been ringing off the hook at hospitals in Tallinn and Tartu as concerned patients inquire about their status.
Einasto said the cancellations would not automatically land patients at the back of the waiting list, but the "best possible compromise" would be found.
"We hope to answer all these questions in the two weeks that are left," Einasto told ETV.
Similarly to the situation in Tartu, Tallinn's emergency rooms - which even on normal days see a brisk flow of green-triaged patients with relatively minor ailments - are preparing for overload.
Details on the exact participation in the strike, hospital by hospital, remain sketchy ahead of the October 1 strike date.
Kristopher Rikken