The financial difficulties faced by wellbeing services counties are evident throughout Finland. The vast majority of wellbeing services counties have applied for an extension to cover their deficit, three more counties have been placed under an assessment procedure, and some counties have announced extensive cooperation negotiations.
For example, in the Wellbeing Services County of North Ostrobothnia (Pohde), cost-cutting measures and pressure on employees affect the entire organisation. The Wellbeing Services County of Central Ostrobothnia (Soite) and Kainuu will decide on cooperation procedures at meetings to be held at the end of June; in Kainuu, it has been proposed that the procedures should cover the entire personnel.
According to Tehy President Millariikka Rytkönen, announcing cooperation negotiations during the holiday season is a new development that places a heavy burden on employees.
– It is incomprehensible that, in the middle of the summer holiday season, employees are subjected to uncertainty, the threat of redundancy and further pressure to find savings. Healthcare and social welfare professionals have been pushed to their limits for years, and now they are facing even more stress and worries right during their summer holidays.
Government must at least grant an extension
In June, the Ministry of Finance decided to launch an assessment procedure on the wellbeing services counties of South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia, and Kymenlaakso, as their financial situations meet the assessment criteria laid down in law.
The vast majority of wellbeing services counties have applied to the central government for an extension to cover their deficit. Some of them have stated outright that, without an extension, the situation will only become increasingly bleak.
– Three wellbeing services counties will undergo an assessment procedure, new rounds of cooperation procedures are being launched across the country, and it is not possible to cover the deficit within the given timeframe virtually anywhere. This is no longer a matter of problems in individual counties; rather, the entire system is suffering from a widespread and serious funding problem, Rytkönen notes.
Tehy is calling on the government to reassess the adequacy of funding for wellbeing services counties and to put an end to policies that undermine services and place an excessive burden on employees.
– There is a serious flaw in the funding model for wellbeing services counties, which must be fixed urgently. As an initial emergency measure, the government must grant an extension to the counties that have requested it to cover their deficit, says Rytkönen.
Enquiries:
Tehy President Millariikka Rytkönen. Requests for interviews through Special Advisor Mila Huovinen, tel. +358 40 054 0005, [email protected]
Jarkko Pehkonen, Director of Advocacy at Tehy, [email protected], tel. +358 40 531 5464