KEPA Uusimaa newsletter 2/2022 May: The special expertise in disability services in Swedish will be centralised in Uusimaa

It’s best to meet the needs of Swedish-speaking customers with demanding support by centralising the expertise. Demanding support requires the expertise of, for example, doctors, psychologists, social workers, rehabilitation counsellors and therapists. The main goal is to secure services after the abolition of special care districts.

“It is of paramount importance that customers with mental disabilities continue to receive service in their own mother tongue. That is why Kårkulla has emphasised the provision of services in Swedish, if necessary, with special solutions,” says Otto Ilmonen, Director of Kårkulla Municipality.

“In Uusimaa, the current situation of demanding special care services in Swedish is not unambiguous. Swedish-speaking or bilingual families in the Helsinki metropolitan area may choose a Finnish service due to its proximity. It is important for FDUV members that the Local Services work and, if necessary, specific knowledge and expertise is available at a reasonable distance,” says Lisbet Hemgård, Executive Director of FDUV, an organisation for the Swedish-speaking mentally disabled. Hemgård is an invited expert member for the Swedish-language services working group of the Kepa Uusimaa project.

In addition to the organisation representative, the customer perspective on development work has been obtained through a Swedish customer panel and a survey of customers and relatives.

“Based on the results of the customer survey, the three most important factors for the customer experience are the employee’s competence and expertise, encounter skills and the ability to serve in Swedish. The same and other design starting points have partly emerged in the customer panel, which will meet for the second time in May,” says project worker Tiina Hannikainen.

Kepa Uusimaa proposes that Swedish special care services should be centralised in the HUS District. The HUS District is a joint venture of the Uusimaa wellbeing services counties and the City of Helsinki that will also be responsible for Helsinki University Hospital in the future. By centralising expertise, it is possible to secure sufficient, competent and Swedish-speaking personnel so that services can continue during, for example, staff changes or short absences. In addition to the equality and uniformity of services, centralisation is also important because it is possible to implement them close to the customer in Uusimaa. The presentation corresponds to the previous presentation on similar services in Finnish. Final decisions are made in wellbeing services counties.

For more information, please contact:

Markus Paananen

Director of Health Care Services and Chair of the Control Group of KEPA Uusimaa project.

City of Espoo

markus.paananen@espoo.fi

Tel. +358 40 6368983

Otto Ilmonen

Samkommunsdirektör, Kårkulla samkommun

oilmonen@karkulla.fi

Tel. +358 2 47431007

Risto Vataja

Chief Physician, Head of Geriatrics, Neurology and Addiction Psychiatry, Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa

risto.vataja@hus.fi

Tel. +358 9 47163703

Kati Sihvonen

Project Manager, KEPA Uusimaa

kati.sihvonen@espoo.fi

Tel. +358 40 6369258

Tiina Hannikainen

Project Specialist, KEPA Uusimaa

tiina.hannikainen@espoo.fi

Tel. +358 40 5059727