Patients’ Council

The Patients’ Council of East Tallinn Central Hospital is a voluntary council which consists of the representatives of patients and their loved ones, giving advice to the hospital. The Council started operating in September 2023. The goal of the Council is to help design human-centred patient journeys and services by involving patients and their loved ones in hospital processes, in order to guarantee the satisfaction of the patients with the hospital.

The goals of the Council are to include the patient’s view to the organisation of the hospital’s internal and external communication, to designing different services and patient journeys, and to developing trainings and other health education projects targeted to general population.

The members of the Patients’ Council are  Avo Hein (Chair of the Council), Brigitta Ploom, Kadri Penjam, Laine Siim, Lea Lumi, Liina Daum and Mihhail Vladislavlev. The representatives of East Tallinn Central Hospital are Kätlin Pallo, Lea Karik and Agris Koppel.

Additional questions about the work of the Patients’ Council: patsientidenoukoda [at] itk.ee (patsientidenoukoda[at]itk[dot]ee)

Summary of the Council meetings:

2024

On 10 September, at the first meeting of the 2024/2025 autumn-winter working period, initial conclusions were drawn regarding the review of the Patient Information Materials (PIM). It was noted that despite clear guidelines for creating PIMs in the hospital, the materials are not easily understandable without background knowledge or they raise additional questions that the information material does not address. The Patient Advisory Board (PAB) finds that reviewing PIMs is a key way to involve patients and develop patient-centred services and will continue to do so.

Discussions covered various topics and opportunities for the PAB to contribute to the development of the hospital and its services, including a recent proposal to increase the fees for visits. The PAB will publish its position on visit fees once it has exchanged thoughts with other advisory boards. Patient feedback plays a critical role in the hospital’s development, so the hospital always welcomes suggestions and perspectives from the PAB.

On 8 October 2024, our hospital’s PAB will host a joint meeting of PABs from all hospitals in Estonia.

On 21 May, at the last meeting of the season, the Chairman of the Board presented the Development Plan 2024-2026 of the East Tallinn Central Hospital, discussing both short- and long-term plans for improving the living and working conditions of the hospital’s patients and employees.

There was also a lively discussion on organ donation: PAB representatives shared their experiences that emerged from the discussion on this topic with family members. It was acknowledged that while relatives and friends generally support organ donation, younger people often have not considered it. Together, it was suggested that organ and tissue donation could be a topic where hospital professionals and patient representatives could think and act together to raise awareness of donation in society. Health education and the importance of patient rights and responsibilities also emerged as key themes. Health topics are minimally addressed in schools and younger generations mainly receive information through social media. For example, information about the HPV vaccine was effective – students chose to get vaccinated because the information reached them through relatable stories. Regarding patient rights, it was noted that the hospital should focus more internally on data protection to raise awareness among both staff and patients. 

The meeting ended with a review of the past season’s meetings and discussions on potential topics for the upcoming season, including the suggestion that the PAB should be more visible on the hospital’s website.

On 9 April, at the penultimate meeting of the season, discussions on hospital logistics continued. The proposals for the renovation of the A-wing lobby on Ravi Street were reviewed and the hospital’s Head of Nursing, Kätlin Pallo, presented the hospital’s development plan on ‘Patients and Their Relatives’. The Board made several suggestions for improving ease of movement and accuracy within the hospital to avoid wasting time searching for buildings, doors and rooms. Among other things, it was recommended to abandon the zero following the building code in the room numbers as this causes confusion and the hospital has no buildings taller than nine floors. They also considered that placing people in lobbies was an unnecessary use of resources and suggested investing in clearer and more readable signs/markings. The advisory board members pointed out that patients arriving for hospital care expect clear information on what to bring, where to go and at what time. It would also be very helpful to provide a telephone number where patients can get more detailed information if needed.

Regarding the development plan for patients and relatives, the PAB found the messages clear and genuine as they are backed by concrete actions. However, they recommended moving the health awareness section to the beginning as patients primarily seek health-related information, which should be delivered at the right time and in the right quantity. How to achieve this is something hospital staff will need to figure out in collaboration with patients.

The agenda on 12 March included a presentation on the tissue bank and organ donation. During the discussion, it was agreed that clearer and more accessible information on organ donation is needed. The PAB will submit their suggestions at future meetings. Discussions also continued on hospital logistics, where it was noted that patients might encounter difficulties finding certain offices due to unfamiliar medical terminology (e.g. not knowing that an ophthalmologist is an eye doctor), the presence and clarity of signs, and the sufficiency and clarity of information on the website. The helpfulness of the hospital’s reception staff was praised.

At the 13 February meeting, the administrative service gave an overview of its area of activity, and the implementation of the patient safety system was presented. There was an initial discussion on patient logistics, where it was found that it is easy and convenient to register for an appointment, but the main bottleneck is time planning due to parking problems at both the Magdalena and Ravi units. Where possible, patients should be given detailed information, informing them that it would be preferable to arrive by public transport or to allow time to find a parking space.

At the 9 January meeting, Dr. Sukles, Head of Internal Medicine, gave a comprehensive overview of her work. The Legal and Procurement Department and Quality Department also presented their activities. In addition, the hospital’s lawyer gave an overview of the subject of euthanasia and a discussion took place.

2023

At the 12 December meeting, an overview was given of the principles governing hospital catering, the audit of catering, and the activities of the nutritional care team. A discussion followed on both the setting of menus and flexibility, and it was recognised that much more could and should be done to raise awareness of nutrition among both staff and patients. Members of the PNK gave feedback on the internal procedures of the hospital, and it turned out that the procedures are relatively easy to understand and written in plain language. In the future, patients will also be asked for their opinion on patient information materials and other patient documents.

At the 14 November meeting, health trainings for the general public were discussed. An overview of what has been done and what is planned for the coming year was given by the East Tallinn Central Hospital Training Department. In addition, the hospital’s Head of Customer Service presented the structure of health services and how to access those services.

At the 10 October meeting, an overview was given on the developments and the number of visits to the hospital’s website, and patient representatives discussed how to improve access to and the movement of information. The results of the patient feedback and satisfaction survey were also presented and discussed.

On September 15, at the first meeting of the Council, the Chairman of the Board of East Tallinn Central Hospital, Mr. Tarmo Baker, gave an overview of the hospital. Elle Rohi introduced the background of establishing the Council, and its connections to the World Patient Safety Day, the topic of which this year was including patients in safety design. In addition, the hospital expressed their expectations to the Council and the members of the Council shared their expectations to the Council, the hospital and the health care system in general. After discussing the draft of the Statutes of the Council and its work organisation, the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Council were selected, and the schedule and topics of the meetings for 2023 and 2024 were agreed on.