According to the Health Board, around 130 speech therapists are currently working in Estonia's healthcare system.

A study by the Estonian Qualifications Authority (Kutsekoda) found that more than 100 additional speech therapists are needed. However, the main concern is that while 160 specialists are expected to graduate from university during this time, only about one-fifth of them enter the healthcare field. As a result, the system will still lack nearly 80 speech therapists.

Most speech therapists working in healthcare treat adults, while fewer specialize in working with children.

The role of a speech therapist in healthcare is to be part of a team when a patient's health issue involves speaking or swallowing. They work primarily in regional hospitals, with a few employed at smaller hospitals as well.

According to an OSKA report published in November last year, the number of speech therapists in the healthcare sector has nearly doubled over the past decade. However, their full-time equivalent workload has grown even more significantly.

Marika Padrik, a member of the Estonian Speech Therapists' Association and an associate professor of speech therapy at the University of Tartu, said that as the number of speech therapists increases, so does the demand for their services.

"Considering that life expectancy is rising, we are seeing more and more elderly people. As a result, there are more strokes, various types of trauma and diseases that affect speech and language skills. On the other hand, we also have many children who survive due to advances in medicine," Padrik said.

Triin Tõnts, an adviser in the department of primary healthcare services at the Ministry of Social Affairs, described the situation as contradictory.

Tõnts noted that, on one hand, several improvements have been made in recent years. For instance, speech therapists have been given equal status with other healthcare workers, joined the collective bargaining agreement, working conditions have improved and university admissions have been expanded.

Still, she said the persistent issue is that only about a fifth of university graduates go on to work in healthcare.

"Most go into education or the private sector, so we continue to face a shortage of speech therapists in hospitals and rehabilitation centers," she said.

Tõnts noted that there is a shortage of speech therapists in places that treat adults recovering from strokes or suffering from swallowing disorders, for example.

She said the first step should be to identify the real reasons behind the shortfall.

"Is it that young specialists cannot find suitable jobs? Are they leaving healthcare due to insufficient pay, heavy workloads or limited development opportunities? Or perhaps the system fails to provide enough support for novice speech therapists to encourage them to work in smaller areas. I believe that only after we find answers to these questions can we begin to search for and implement effective solutions," the expert said.

Tõnts suggested that increasing the number of study places or diversifying training options could be considered. She believes that a unified career model, fair pay and a reasonable workload could also help. Additionally, she sees potential for digital technologies to play a larger role in the future.

"For example, offering consultations or therapy sessions even when a specialist is not physically present. I believe that digital technologies are definitely a valuable tool that could and should be used more extensively in the field of speech therapy," she said.

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