The Minister of Health replied to the interpellation concerning the shortage of psychologists

The Minister of Health Riina Sikkut replied to the interpellation concerning the shortage of psychologists (No. 54), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu Andre Hanimägi, Jaanus Karilaid, Jaak Aab and Maria Jufereva-Skuratovski.

According to the interpellators, the number of people who are suffering from psychological problems has increased in recent years, but the healthcare system is unable to meet the need sufficiently and there is a shortage of psychologists. Concerned by this, the interpellators asked how the Government was planning to ensure a sufficient number of psychologists in the future.

Sikkut noted that, as society had been dealing with the COVID-crisis and war refugees, there was less stigma, and people spoke more of mental health concerns. According to her, the opportunities to seek help have also improved. “However, the fact that there are more mental health concerns, people are more aware of them and hopefully also seek help more certainly also creates a need for more specialists to address these concerns,” the Minister of Health admitted.

The Minister pointed out that 15 clinical psychologists and 14 psychologist/counsellors were currently studying in their induction year, and another 14 qualified clinical psychologists and 14 qualified psychologist/counsellors could be expected by the end of 2024. She pointed out that, in order to motivate work in the health care system, on the decision of the supervisory board of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, the remuneration rate of psychologists had been increased by an additional coefficient. That allows for medical institutions to raise the remuneration additionally by an average of 38 per cent, and until 30 November it is possible for local governments to apply for support to employ psychologists in order to provide services at local level.

Sikkut added that experts were developing a gradual system for providing mental health assistance. According to the Minister, besides increasing state-commissioned education, one possible solution to the issue of the shortage of employees is to delegate simpler tasks for example to clinical assistants at health centres and support specialists at schools who have been trained to provide mental health first aid. Sikkut pointed out that there were also evidence-based measures such as the anti-bullying programme KiVa implemented at schools that helped prevent health issues. According to her, the training of mental health nurses working at health centres has been enhanced, and advice is also available online.

According to the Minister, so far, the training of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists has been going on, and the training of mental health nurses is ongoing. However, so far, there have been few low-threshold interventions and there has been no plan for them. “The Mental Health Green Paper and action plan have been drawn up now, and based on this we are providing minimally-invasive interventions on a larger scale in order that it would be possible to relieve the shortage of specialists by solving simpler health problems closer to people, whether it be at work or school or at local government level,” Sikkut said.

The Minister of Health also replied to the interpellation concerning the establishment of Tallinn Hospital (No. 53), submitted by members of the Estonian Centre Party Group.

The Riigikogu also heard the replies of the Minister of Culture Heidy Purga to the interpellations concerning the construction of the new building of Tallinn City Theatre (No. 49), the 100,000 euro allocated by the former Minister of Culture Piret Hartman for the establishment of Tähetorni Sports and Health Club (No. 51), and the international sports competitions held in Estonia (No. 16), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu.

The Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo replied to the interpellation concerning equal treatment in work life (No. 74), and the Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets replied to the interpellation concerning the removal of the statue of the Bronze Soldier (No. 45), submitted by Members of the Riigikogu.

The Riigikogu removed parliamentary immunity from Kert Kingo

At its today’s sitting, on the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice, the Riigikogu gave its consent to the removal of parliamentary immunity from Member of the Riigikogu Kert Kingo and the continuation of legal proceedings against her.

When presenting the application of the Prosecutor General, the Chancellor of Justice Ülle Madise said that, according to suspicion, Kert Kingo had borne the costs of a lawyer incurred by third persons, and had given the lawyer written instructions to write on invoices that they were for legal aid provided to her in connection with her work as a Member of the Riigikogu, so that they would be reimbursed to her on the basis of expense claims. Madise added that, according to the file, the lawyer had actually advised other persons in legal proceedings and had not provided such legal aid related to the work of a Member of the Riigikogu. “When the Board of the Riigikogu specified the procedure for the reimbursement of work-related expenses of members of Riigikogu, those written instructions to write false data on the invoices were further supplemented by requests to write the numbers of certain Bills on the invoices,” the Chancellor of Justice added.

The Chancellor of Justice noted that, when she had examined the materials of the criminal case, no circumstance had become apparent that would have allowed her not to forward the application of the Prosecutor General to the Riigikogu. “Only the court can decide on the admissibility of evidence and on guilt. Neither the submission of this application and proposal nor the potential removal of parliamentary immunity mean that Kert Kingo is guilty of such crimes. Justice is administered solely by the courts, and if guilt is not proved the person is acquitted,” Madise emphasised.

Member of the Riigikogu Kert Kingo also made a comment.

During the debate, Martin Helme, Kalle Grünthal, Helle-Moonika Helme, Varro Vooglaid, Mart Helme and Ants Frosch from the Estonian Conservative People’s Party Group and Jürgen Ligi from the Estonian Reform Party Group took the floor.

66 members of the Riigikogu voted for the proposal of the Chancellor of Justice and 13 voted against. There was one abstention.

At the beginning of the sitting, the interpellation concerning deceitful policy (No. 89) was removed from the agenda for this working week on an agreement between the interpellator Urmas Reinsalu and the Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo.

The sitting ended at 7.34 p.m.

Photos of the sitting (Author: Erik Peinar, Chancellery of the Riigikogu)

Verbatim record of the sitting (in Estonian)

Video recording of the sitting will be available to watch later on the Riigikogu YouTube channel.
(Please note that the recording will be uploaded with a delay.)

Riigikogu Press Service
Merilin Kruuse
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Link uudisele: The Minister of Health replied to the interpellation concerning the shortage of psychologists

Source: Parliament of Estonia