– Violence is never acceptable. No nurses should die on the job. I wish to send my deepest condolences to the bereaved family of the deceased nurse, says Millariikka Rytkönen.
The unfortunate incident in Sweden involved a paramedic. Finnish paramedics are also at high risk, but the threat of violence in the healthcare and social care sector is not limited to paramedics. Many social care and healthcare professionals in several different roles face violence every day. In Finland, too, we have seen actions leading to fatalities of healthcare and social care professionals, and these should be preventable in all situations.
Recent statistics show that the sector has become increasingly violent. According to the Finnish Workers' Compensation Center, the most common anomaly preceding sick leave caused by an accident at work is violence, and accidents in the social care and healthcare sector are increasing year by year. Data from Statistics Finland also confirms that violence has increased significantly in the sector in recent years.
– Decision-makers can no longer turn a blind eye to the reality in which Finnish care staff have to work. At Tehy legal services, we increasingly need to help members who have been assaulted in the line of duty. These incidents must come to a stop, and decision-makers must take responsibility for the safety of nurses, says Millariikka Rytkönen.
The trade union Tehy demands that all personnel in the Finnish social care and healthcare sector be protected from violence and safeguarded by legislation. Tehy has long demanded that all staff in the social care and healthcare sector be protected just as well as the civil servants who experience violence in the course of their work. Tehy also calls for employers' responsibility: protecting workers by all available means is a legal obligation for employers.
Rytkönen points out that the ongoing cuts in social security and the social care and healthcare sector are affecting the users of these services, which is reflected in the everyday lives of the sector's professionals. As people's well-being deteriorates, the risks of disruptive behaviour and even violence in social and health care services increase.
Further reading: blog article by Tehy's lawyer Inka Lehtinen on the topic “Violence is increasing in the workplaces of Tehy members, but the government sweeps the problem under the rug” (in Finnish).
Further information:
Tehy President Millariikka Rytkönen, requests for interview through Special Advisor Mila Huovinen, [email protected], tel. +358 400 540 005.
Tehy Leading Legal Counsel, Master of Laws with court training Jarkko Pehkonen, [email protected],
tel. +358 40 531 5464