Ambulances are intended for transporting patients in critical condition, but hospitals and care homes sometimes use them like taxis, for example, to take patients to medical appointments, the National Audit Office audit found.

Statistically, this is not a major issue. They account for 8 percent of trips in Lääne and Põlva counties, and 3 to 4 percent nationwide.

But each journey risks delaying an ambulance's arrival to a patient in a life-threatening condition, said Nikita Panjuškin, head of the Health Services Department at the Ministry of Social Affairs.

"Take, for example, a patient who needs to be brought from Narva to Tallinn. Even with flashing lights, the trip takes two hours one way. The return trip without a patient—so without lights—takes about three hours," he told "Aktuaalne kaamera." "That means one transport call can take an ambulance crew out of service for about a quarter of their shift, which is already significant."

Panjuškin said ambulances are often used for scheduled transport for a very simple reason.

"In some counties, there are no providers of medical transport, or too few, and the funding models are such that the cost either falls on the patient or is billed to the hospital. Meanwhile, ambulance service is free for every person in Estonia," he told the show.

According to the recently approved ambulance development strategy, clearer boundaries will be set for when ambulances should provide medical transport. Exactly who should pay the transportation costs will also be defined.

"Above all, we need to create a funding model where it's easier, faster, and cheaper for a hospital's on-call doctor to call a company that provides medical transport than to dial 112 and request an emergency ambulance team, which is actually meant to serve people in the city," Panjuškin said.

The official noted that after the funding model is changed, private companies have shown increased interest in offering medical transport services to hospitals.

Hospital's cautious

Ain Suurkaev, director of Rakvere Hospital, is cautious about the change, as it concerns a service that cannot always be planned in advance.

"It's great if the company provides service 24/7. Contracts can include all sorts of agreements, but behind the idea is the assumption that somewhere there's a driver and a medical worker on call around the clock," Suurkaev said.

The director said ambulances are still used for patient transport based on a doctor's decision. He believes it would be more reasonable to expand ambulance capacity in the region rather than cutting back on transport trips.

An analysis of the planned changes is expected to be completed during 2026.

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