Emergency Services and Hospitals to Receive Strict Rules for Managing Dangerous Patients

As of today, new legal norms come into force in Estonia that regulate the restraint of dangerous patients across the entire healthcare system. Until now, strict rules were in place only in psychiatry, but now they expand to emergency services and hospitals more broadly. The new law clarifies when and how patients can be calmed in extreme situations.

Starting today, 1 July 2026, strict new rules come into force in Estonia regulating the restraint of dangerous patients in emergency services and hospitals. The change is an important step for the entire healthcare sector, since such norms have previously been set only in the field of psychiatry.

Why the change is necessary

Medical professionals encounter situations daily where a patient's behaviour poses a threat to themselves, others, colleagues and assisting personnel. The previous legal situation left many healthcare workers outside psychiatric departments without clear guidelines for such situations.

The new law establishes precisely the conditions and methods under which it is permissible to restrain and calm a patient in extreme situations. This gives medical professionals a clear legal basis for action, while protecting both healthcare workers and patients themselves.

Rules expand across all healthcare

Previously, strict norms concerning restraint were established only in psychiatry, where encounters with aggressive or self-destructive patients are a daily occurrence. Now the same principles extend to emergency service crews and all hospitals, regardless of specialty.

The change ensures that restraint is used only as a last resort and always with legal justification, reducing both the risk of abuse and uncertainty in complex situations.