Govt amends draft on Sote reform

The Ministerial Working Group on Health and Social Services has reviewed the opinions submitted in the round of comments held on 5 June to 25 September on its draft legislative proposal on health and social services (Sote) reform and based on them, the government has made a number of policy adjustments and amendments to the draft, said a government press release.

A total of 817 opinions were received in the round of comments. The draft proposal will be submitted to the Council of Regulatory Impact Analysis on 14 October and presented to parliament in early December. The areas based on the division used in the health and social services reform are to be renamed ‘wellbeing services regions’ (previously health and social services counties).

Most of the feedback in the round of comments was related to the financing of municipalities, wellbeing services regions and rescue services, the right to tax, self-government and oversight of wellbeing services regions, responsibility for organising the services, provision of services by the regions themselves and the purchase of third-party services, the nullification of agreements, the responsibilities for promoting health and welfare and the timetable for execution, and the implementation of the reform.

For the purposes of the round of comments, the proposed new self-government level was referred to as ‘health and social services county’ (HSS county).

Now these counties are to be renamed ‘wellbeing services regions’. Similarly, the HSS counties included in the Uusimaa Province would be known as wellbeing services regions. The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) would be renamed Joint Regional Authority for the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS-yhtymä).

The elections would be regional elections, and the term ‘region’ would also be used to replace other compound words beginning with the word ‘county’.

The municipalities of eastern Savo would be part of the eastern Savo Wellbeing Services Region.

Sote reform is aimed at streamlining and strengthening public healthcare