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1. How do you think that reforms on social and health care services (sote-uudistus) will be seen in election campaigns?
2. What do you think, will the health and social services reform play a major role considering the upcoming elections?
3. Do you think that the problems in the elderly care affect the way health and social services reform is discussed in the media?
4. If the health and social services reform fails to pass, what would be the possible alternatives like?
5. How would you improve the reforms?

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"The treatment of elderly people is not in compliance everywhere with the values that define our actions and trust in the services has crumbled," she highlighted in a press release.

"This is a serious issue. The public debate about the flaws has strengthened the impression that broad and thorough preparatory work is necessary to introduce common practices and solutions to elderly services," added Saarikko.

One of the questions at the core of the debate is staff dimensioning. The National Coalition is currently the only party that has not expressed its support for introducing binding staffing requirements for nursing homes and residential care units across the country.

The Finnish act on elderly services currently only recommends that such facilities have one nurse for every two patients.

Saarikko on Tuesday said the sufficiency of the staffing guidelines will be weighed up as part of the legislative project.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health reported that additional resources will be allocated to supervising elderly care in the next supplementary budget. Pirkko Mattila (BR), the Minister of Social Affairs and Health, stressed that attention must also be paid to management, self-monitoring and procurement practices, as well as to the availability of reliable data on the quality of care and nursing.

Aleksi Teivainen - HT
Source: Uusi Suomi

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minister of social services and family affairs

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Finnish government to start work on overhauling act on elderly services

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"The treatment of elderly people is not in compliance everywhere with the values that define our actions and trust in the services has crumbled," she highlighted in a press release. "This is a serious issue. The public debate about the flaws has strengthened the impression that broad and thorough preparatory work is necessary to introduce common practices and solutions to elderly services," added Saarikko.

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Proposed solutions for lack of health care professionals

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Proposed solutions for lack of health care professionals

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According to Foreign Minister Timo Soini, the solution to Finland's problems with elderly care would be to bring in more nursery staff from abroad. Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today

The Finnish elderly care system has seen better days.

The media has reported about staff shortages, patients' deaths and nurses on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

However, according to Foreign Minister Timo Soini (Finns), things are not as bad as they look.

As a matter of fact, he has a solution.

"They are hard-working, good people who work with high morale."
Timo Soini

"We need more caring hands, mainly from our home country but also from abroad. Same work, same pay. And taxes," he said in his blog.

According to Soini, acknowledging the facts is the beginning of wisdom.

The solution is to bring in nursing staff from the Philippines.

"They are hard-working, good people who work with high morale."

It would be wise, according to Soini, that Finland would extend its cooperation with the Philippines; Finland should see its next embassy to be opened there. "The relations between our countries are good and they should be deepened by practical cooperation."

According to Soini, work-related immigration can also be rational.

"With the Philippines, it would be just that. Beneficial for both sides," Soini concluded.

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Foreign Minister Soini Would Tackle Finland's Elderly Care Crisis By Bringing in Nurses From the Philippines

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The Finnish elderly care system has seen better days. The media has reported about staff shortages, patients' deaths and nurses on the verge of a nervous breakdown. However, according to Foreign Minister Timo Soini (Finns), things are not as bad as they look. As a matter of fact, he has a solution.

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- Providers of social and health services
- Freedom-of-choice services
- The Constitutional Law Committee
- The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities
- a unit of the unincorporated county enterprise
- occupational healthcare

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More vocabulary on social and health services reform

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Criteria for service providers are a set of county-defined conditions that service providers must meet before they can deliver services within the scope of freedom of choice (direct-choice services, health and social services vouchers and personal budgets).

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Image: Matti Hietala

Daily Helsingin Sanomat writes about the difficulties that the government's flagship reforms on social and health care services () are facing and the possible effects that a failure to pass the laws may cause.

The Constitutional Law Committee is dealing with the reforms now, but time is running out, HS writes, as the current parliamentary term will end in four weeks. It is therefore increasingly looking like the laws will not passed during this government and that the reform will "fall forward." That means that the processes which have already been initiated at regional level to introduce sote will continue even without a wholesale law reform, HS writes.

While on the administrative side municipalities may change the way they provide services, the visible effects on patients and clients are likely to remain minor.

Tarja Myllärinen from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities says municipalities are likely to cooperate more. "All regions have discussed the different options, even though they may not have been very vocal about it."

Regardless of what happens to sote, the peripheral regions of Finland will suffer as the population ages while big cities will survive, says Markus Sovala from Uusimaa Regional Council. "When the money runs out, it will be difficult to make decisions."

Nonetheless, any disorder that may result from the postponement of sote will mostly impact administration. "This is not Naples where rubbish piles up on the streets for half a year," Sovala adds.

Risky level crossings

Meanwhile, some level crossings in Finland are so dangerous that passing over them is like playing Russian roulette, according to tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. Despite a fatal crash in Raseborg in 2017, there are multiple level crossings still in use where visibility is very poor but safety has not been improved, according to the paper. One of them is the Simonen crossing near Seinäjoki in Western Finland.

"Even if they do everything right, people venturing to these crossings can't be enitrely sure they aren't going to be hit by a train. And they don't even know they are playing with their lives," says Hannamari Helke from the Safety Investigation Authority.

Dangerous crossings are a remnant from the past, when trains were slower and the conductors had more time to react to drivers, IS writes. As speed limits for trains have risen, so too have the problems at the crossings.

"It's not legal to build level crossings like this anymore, but for some reason, Finnish law does not require the existing ones to be fixed," Helke told the paper.

According to her, people in Finland are used to society taking care of safety, which makes these risky crossings even more dangerous.

"Closing the crossings would mean that drivers have to take a detour. But that's better than dying," Helke adds.

Spring's on its way

Tabloid Iltalehti reports that Finland is experiencing a February heat wave. On Thursday night, temperature in Rauma, southwestern Finland, climbed to 8.4 degrees - a 60-year record for this time of the year.

Weather for the weekend is looking to be balmy, with plenty of sunshine across the country and temperatures between four and seven degrees in southern and central Finland. The tip of Lapland may see some snowfall though, IL's weather map shows.

For comparison's sake, IL reports that temperature in Enontekiö, Lapland, hovered around eight degrees at midsummer last year.

Nevertheless, IL doubts that bars and restaurants in Rauma are ready to open their outdoor patios just yet.

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Friday's papers: Reform troubles, dangerous level crossings and February heat wave

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Daily Helsingin Sanomat writes about the difficulties that the government's flagship reforms on social and health care services () are facing and the possible effects that a failure to pass the laws may cause. The Constitutional Law Committee is dealing with the reforms now, but time is running out, HS writes, as the current parliamentary term will end in four weeks.