Dissatisfaction with service or care
If you are dissatisfied with the service or care you have received or the conduct towards you, please first try to resolve the matter with the employees of the unit in question or their supervisor. Feedback on anything done in Soite can be submitted through the electronic feedback system on the website
The content on this page
An objection
If a patient or a social welfare client is dissatisfied with the conduct towards them or with how their matter was dealt with, the patient may submit an objection to the medical director of health care. A social welfare client may submit an objection to the senior officeholder responsible for social welfare.
The objection must be submitted in writing. The form is available on the Forms and applications page (the form is currently available in Finnish and in Swedish. In Finnish, the form for health care is called “Potilaan asemasta ja oikeuksista annetun lain mukainen muistutus” and when it comes to social welfare, the form is called “Sosiaalihuollon asiakkaan asemasta ja oikeuksista annetun lain mukainen muistutus”).
The objection should state in as much detail as possible what one is dissatisfied with in the health care or social welfare services one has received. If possible, the objection should also name the person/persons whose actions one is dissatisfied with.
If needed, the social services and patient ombudsperson can help with submitting an objection, as assisting patients/clients with objections is part of their duties.
A complaint
Clients, patients or their family members have the right to file a complaint if they are dissatisfied with the service or care they have received or with the conduct towards them in health care or social services.
A complaint is submitted to the Finnish Supervisory Agency when a suspected treatment error concerns the care of a patient who has died or been severely injured during treatment and the person filing the complaint suspects a treatment error. Other complaints concerning service and care are submitted to the Regional State Administrative Agency for the area where the client or patient received care, or to the Parliamentary Ombudsman of Finland or to the Chancellor of Justice.
You can file a complaint if you are dissatisfied with the response you received to your objection. A complaint may be filed even if a notice has already been filed to the Patient Insurance Centre due to a suspected patient injury. Complaints are generally not investigated if more than two years have passed since the event. A complaint can be filed in free form or using a complaint form.
The supervisory authority, i.e. the Finnish Supervisory Agency, may transfer a complaint submitted to it to the unit in question, so that it can first be handled as an objection.
Appeals against social welfare decisions
In social welfare, clients may appeal against a decision in their matter. instructions concerning claim for a revised decision are always sent together with the decision.
A patient injury
Health care and medical care always involve risks that cannot always be avoided, even with the best possible care. Patient insurance compensates patients, in accordance with the Patient Injuries Act, for personal injuries caused in connection with health care. As a rule, compensation must be claimed within three years of the date on which the person entitled to compensation became aware of the injury, or should have become aware of it.
The Patient Insurance Centre handles claims. Practical instructions for suspected patient injury cases are available on the Patient Insurance Centre’s website. The patient ombudsperson also provides advice on such matters.
A pharmaceutical injury
You can claim financial compensation for an injury caused by a medicine from the Finnish mutual Insurance Company for Pharmaceutical Injury indemnities by filling out a notice of a pharmaceutical injury.
The compensation claim must be submitted within one year of the date on which the person claiming compensation became aware of the injury caused by a medicine. However, the claim must be submitted no later than 10 years after the use of the medicine ended.
Material damage
Material damages are not compensated as a patient injury. In such cases, the staff at the unit where the damage occurred or the social services and patient ombudsperson will advice the patient to submit a written compensation claim to the relevant head of service section in Soite. The form is available on the Forms and applications page (the form is currently available in Finnish and in Swedish. The form is called “Vahinkokorvaushakemus esinevahingosta” in Finnish). Material damage includes, for example, the loss of a patient’s dental prosthesis or damage to glasses during hospital care due to an employee’s error or negligence.