Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare

The Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare prepares and develops issues pertaining to the position and rights of the customer and the patient, healthcare and social welfare employees as well as healthcare and social welfare services.

The National Advisory Board on Social Welfare and Health Care Ethics ETENE, the National Advisory Board on Romani Affairs RONK and the Advisory Board for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities VANE operate within this department.

Performance guidance and ownership steering

The Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare is responsible for the performance guidance of the following institutions:

Responsibilities and personnel of the Department’s units

The Department for Clients and Services in Healthcare and Social Welfare is headed by Director Anna Cantell-Forsbom.

Service System Unit (PAL)

The Unit handles issues pertaining to:

  • the general healthcare service system, primary and specialised healthcare services and related legislation and guidance: somatic healthcare, including oral healthcare, and mental healthcare and substance abuse and addiction treatment;
  • certain areas of healthcare and related legislation: pharmacotherapy, screenings, prehospital emergency medical services as part of the service system, provision of infertility treatments within the service system, abortions, sterilisations, rare diseases, state mental hospitals, prison healthcare, determination of the cause of death and forensic medicine as well as cross-border healthcare, excluding legislation on the coordination of social security; 
  • the general social welfare service system, social services and related legislation and guidance; 
  • certain areas of social welfare and related legislation: social lending, adult social work and structural social work, emergency social services, targeted services for people with substance abuse or addiction problems, targeted mental health services, rehabilitative work facilities, activities supporting the employment of people with disabilities and work facilities for people with disabilities; 
  • the operational guidance of the Emergency Response Centre Agency, and
  • EU and international cooperation in matters that fall within the remit of the Unit.

Director Eveliina Pöyhönen.

Clients and Personnel Unit (ASI)

The Unit handles issues pertaining to:

  • the status and rights of clients and patients in general, including linguistic rights and coordination related to the right to self-determination of clients and patients;
  • guidance regarding client and patient safety and the self-supervision and supervision of healthcare and social welfare;
  • client charges in healthcare and social welfare;
  • matters related to the status, rights, responsibilities, competence, education and training, sufficiency, availability and retention of healthcare and social welfare personnel in general and the coordination of related guidance;
  • training, research and development activities related to the healthcare and social welfare service system, including the activities of the centres of excellence on social welfare;
  • matters related to compensation for research and training in healthcare and social welfare;
  • the rights of the Sámi in the healthcare and social welfare service system;
  • the coordination of health and social services promoting integration; 
  • the tasks of the national focal point under Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the coordination of disability policy;
  • the coordination of Roma policy; 
  • the performance guidance of the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health and of the basic public services, legal rights and permits divisions of the Regional State Administrative Agencies;
  • EU and international cooperation in matters that fall within the remit of the Unit.

The Unit is headed by Jaska Siikavirta.