On Wednesday evening the multi-party working group proposed that the new, streamlined system be based on five strong social and healthcare districts, which will encompass all Finnish municipalities.
These districts would not themselves be responsible for producing services, but they would be in charge of ensuring that all residents have sufficient access to services, said Pekka Järvinen, Ministerial Counsellor at Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
The five districts are to decide on a quadrennial basis which municipalities or municipal groupings are to provide social and healthcare services (known in Finnish by the abbreviation “sote”).
Up and running by 2017?
Municipalities will fund the operation of the social and health care districts. If approved by the whole Parliament, the “sote” law will take effect next year. After the district lines are drawn, the municipalities and blocs responsible for producing services will be named. The new system would then begin operations in 2017.
“This is not any particular person’s model, or any particular party’s model,” said Social Democratic Minister of Health and Social Services Susanna Huovinen at the press conference.
