The service, operating at Tallinn's Confido Health Centre since October, provides primary care for patients who don't need urgent or emergency treatment.

About 80 patients use it each month, according to Tallinn Welfare and Healthcare Department director Raimo Saadi.

He said other cities should consider offering on-call primary care as well, noting that patients at the Tallinn office have come from across the country to be seen.

The pilot was left open by design to patients from outside the capital to help gauge broader interest.

"It's clear there's a real need for this service," Saadi added, noting it could be particularly useful on public holidays and weekends, when options for being seen are limited.

The future of the on-call primary care project is still undecided, however. Saadi noted that while the idea has been discussed for years, lack of prior experience made earlier implementation difficult.

"The Estonian Health Insurance Fund (EHIF) should add this as a covered service," he said.

Clearer system for redirecting patients would help

Raivo Rohtla, emergency room chief at East Tallinn Central Hospital (ITK), said that in practice, he is unaware of any patients who first tried the on-call family doctor and didn't get help.

Nonetheless, he noted there has been no noticeable drop in ER visits since the pilot began either.

Rohtla said the service would be most useful if clear times were set for when to direct patients to the on-call doctor, since they currently cannot be sent there from the ER without a scheduled appointment.

"If someone comes to the ER with a minor health issue, we could tell them, 'The on-call family doctor will see patients at so-and-so time at this location,'" he explained. "And we would know exactly which cases can be safely redirected."

Tallinn's on-call family doctor service is set to continue through the end of 2026, running alongside the on-call service at Tallinn Children's Hospital launched last year.

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