Estonia to spend millions on hospital survey

TALLINN (BNS) - The Estonian Social Affairs Ministry will spend
approximately 5.6 million kroons ($373,333) in the next three months
to get an overview of the country's hospital situation .

Half the funds will come from the state budget and the other half
from a World Bank loan. The study will be conducted by Swedish
consultancies, Scandinavian Care Consultants AG and Sweco
International AB, chosen in an international tender.

The companies are to finish by April 15 a report with recommendations
for the development of the hospital network in the next 15-20 years.

Social Affairs Ministry Chancellor Hannes Danilov on Jan. 18 told
reporters the purpose of the hospital master plan is to find out
hospitals' material situation, number of beds, patients' treatment
conditions, qualification of doctors and nurses and need for training.

A plan for the development of the hospital system should provide the
ministry with guidelines for planning health investments and ensuring
the quality and availability of medical services.

In evaluating hospitals here, Swedish and Norwegian health care
standards will be used for comparison.