Findata to reduce staff by more than a half due to want of funds

The Finnish Social and Health Data Permit Authority- Findata will start cooperation negotiations on October 9 with the view to reduce its staff by more than a half, said the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Monday.

The negotiations concern the entire personnel and may lead to the dismissal of up to 15 employees out of total 26 permanent staff members.

The negotiations are prompted by a reduction in Findata’s budget funding, which means that its annual expenditure must be cut by 1.2–1.3 million euros starting next year.

“The amount is such that personnel reductions are unfortunately also likely. During the negotiations, we will seek other ways to achieve the required savings and minimise the number of redundancies”, said Mika Salminen, Director General of the THL.

Findata operates in connection with THL but is administratively separate from THL’s other activities.

Findata grants permits for the secondary use of social and health care data. Secondary use refers to the use of data for purposes other than patient care or client services. Scientific research is one example of permitted secondary use.

Findata’s funding consists of fee-based services and government budget funding.

“In recent years, our operations have been financed through transitional budget funding, but this funding will no longer be available from next year onwards,” said Mervi Siltanen, Acting Director of Findata.

“A reduction in personnel means that Findata’s operations will need to be reorganised and scaled down. The details of these measures will become clear after the cooperation negotiations, after which we will communicate them to our customers and other stakeholders,” said Siltanen.

The cooperation negotiations will last for at least six weeks, the press release added.