Kemi and Savonlinna file complaint with Chancellor of Justice over hospital law issues in Finland

On Monday, the Kemi City Council decided to file a complaint with the Chancellor of Justice regarding the hospital law being prepared by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. A similar decision was made by Savonlinna a week prior.

The cities have collaborated on the complaint, as both Kemi and Savonlinna hospitals are set to lose round-the-clock specialized healthcare services starting in 2026, according to the government proposal. The primary focus of the complaint is on the deficiencies, inconsistencies, and errors in the impact assessment of the bill prepared by the Ministry for the government. These issues fundamentally pertain to citizens’ basic rights and legal security.

Kemi and Savonlinna argue that the proposed changes do not sufficiently account for the risks to service availability, the economy, and staff recruitment. The complaint notes that a minor anticipated cost saving would cause significant disruption to the service system, which has not been evaluated at all. The proposed legislation is considered especially problematic concerning citizens’ equality.

Moreover, Kemi points out that the absence of an impact assessment is no accident, emphasizing that leading officials in the Ministry acknowledged that the assessments had deliberately been omitted for the Länsi-Pohja and Lapland welfare areas.

Concerns are also raised about travel times to access shared emergency care. For the approximately 52,000 residents in Lapland, journey times could extend from 0-20 minutes to over an hour, worsening an already challenging situation. The draft does not address the condition of roads and winter weather conditions affecting patient transport in the Lapland welfare area.

The complaint highlights that mortality rates are likely to increase in such scenarios, emphasizing it is genuinely a matter of life and death. Finally, the complainant notes that the government’s own proposal indicates that cost-saving potential in Lapland is negative, suggesting an additional expense of €1.1 million instead of savings. This assessment also lacks additional costs for primary healthcare. If these factors are not considered in the government’s rationale, lawmakers will lack adequate information to make informed decisions.