Serious shortcomings in safety assistance services – more supervision and more detailed legislation is necessary

Deputy-Ombudsman Maija Sakslin has issued a decision on shortcomings in the implementation of safety assistance services in all wellbeing services counties and Helsinki.

The Deputy-Ombudsman started an investigation on the matter due to serious shortcomings that came to light in a previously resolved complaint. A safety assistant found a customer lifeless on the top of their walker some two hours after the customer had sent out the first alarm with their safety bracelet (case 6328/2023).

The reports received in the matter indicate that the risk of similar situations is still real in several wellbeing services counties. The implementation of the service has not always met the requirements of indispensable care as guaranteed by the Constitution of Finland, states Deputy-Ombudsman Sakslin.

Some of the reports from wellbeing services counties do not specify concrete measures for situations where it is not possible to carry out safety assistance visits or how customers’ services are secured in case of disruptions.

There were also differences between the wellbeing services counties in how they recognise their own responsibility for implementing the service when it is procured from a private provider.

In some wellbeing services counties, the response time of safety assistance visits from receiving an alert to making the visit had not been specified or monitored at all. Wellbeing services counties also have different interpretations of how to define urgent situations of varying degrees.

Deputy-Ombudsman Sakslin: Each wellbeing services county has overall responsibility for ensuring that the service secures the client’s constitutional right to life and indispensable care. The self-monitoring methods of wellbeing services counties have not been sufficient to adequately address the qualitative issues with the safety assistance service, such as shortcomings in the definition of response times. Due to the nature of the service, it is extremely important that necessary corrections are carried out in time and not only when it is no longer possible to protect the customer’s health and life by means of corrections. The information I have received shows that there is a need for continued supervision.

Deputy-Ombudsman Sakslin: Urgent legislative changes are necessary so that supervisory authorities are able to carry out their supervision effectively. According to the existing legal standards, supervisory authorities must only supervise the social services that the wellbeing services counties are obliged to organise. The responsibilities for organising and supervising the safety assistance service should be clearly defined in legislation. I have brought my understanding of the urgent need to amend this legislation to the attention of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The Deputy-Ombudsman has also submitted her decision to the wellbeing services counties, the City of Helsinki and the Finnish Supervisory Agency for further supervision.

The Deputy-Ombudsman’s decision no 6034/2024 has been published (in Finnish) on the website www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

Further information is available from Principal Legal Adviser Lotta Hämeen-Anttila, tel. +358 9 432 3353.