Social and health services according to your life situation - The client knows best

In the health and social services reform in the municipalities of Western Uusimaa, customer experience is the starting point for everything.

Read the first part of the article here:  Bringing the social and health services together

Although the health and social services reform is not so much about physical facilities, they are also a question that needs to be considered. For the Greater Leppävaara and Espoonlahti areas, such planning has already begun.

“In both areas, a natural demand for new facilities has arisen due to existing repair needs,” says Elina Jaakovlew-Markus, 

There is no need to get worried about services disappearing. In accordance with the City of Espoo service structure, services will continue to be available in all urban centres along good transport connections.

“In addition, we offer mobile services that bring local services to those living further away. This comes into question particularly in the sparsely populated areas of small municipalities. In Espoo, in physical terms, the most distant areas from urban centres are Kalajärvi and Viherlaakso,” says Elina Jaakovlew-Markus.

Programme Director Jutta Tikkanen considers it important to consult the users, i.e. the customers and residents, at all stages of the process.

“We are in the process of developing a digital channel through which we can engage in a closer dialogue with residents,” Tikkanen says. We are currently collecting feedback on the online services of Leppävaara.

Tikkanen promises, however, that not everything will be left to digital services in this matter either. If necessary, the managers of different projects will reach out to their own customer groups to hear their wishes.

The Health and Social Services Centre refers to all the social and health services pro- vided by Espoo as a whole. The plan is to divide the services between three groups.

Children, young people and families will form one of the groups. In the future, their services in Espoo will be provided in Family Centres, the first of which will be completed in Espoon keskus by the end of 2021.

Services for seniors, on the other hand, will be concentrated into the Life and Living Centres. There are already two such centres in operation in Espoo, located in Leppävaara and Kauklahti.

In the future, services aimed at the entire population would include not only primary health care, but also mental health, substance abuse treatment, physiotherapy and adult social services.

Many people who need a lot of health care services are also, to a significant extent, social services clients, and vice versa. In the new model, we want to find a dedicated channel for these people who need a lot of services and assign them their own contact person who will take care of their needs as a whole.

“Having a separate channel for them will free up resources in general health care and social services, and people will be spared from being bounced back and forth between service points,” says Markus Syrjänen, Director of Administration and Development in Espoo.

Text: Tiina Parikka. This article has been published in Espoo Magazine 4/2020, 28 November 2020.

Western Uusimaa wellbeing services county