Doctor’s appointment. Photo: Roni Rekomaa / Lehtikuva
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Unattended public healthcare appointments in Finland cost welfare regions tens of millions of euros annually, with over 630,000 visits missed in 2023 alone.
Data from wellbeing services counties collected by Yle show that the issue affects all parts of the country, with the total number likely higher due to gaps in tracking systems. Some regions rely on billing data only, and several do not monitor missed appointments in social services at all. Northern Ostrobothnia did not report figures.
Missed appointments are most frequent in substance abuse and mental health services, as well as in dental care. Among age groups, those under 18 miss the most appointments. These visits are often free of charge, which welfare professionals believe contributes to lower attendance rates.
Tuula Rajaniemi, Chief Medical Officer in the Kymenlaakso welfare region, said over 21,000 appointments were missed there last year, costing the region around two million euros.
“When patients fail to show up, doctors write reports or respond to phone inquiries,” Rajaniemi said. “Still, it is important that we get patients to their appointments so that people receive care and we can meet the treatment guarantee.”
Each missed appointment affects others. If a scheduled patient does not attend, another person waiting for treatment cannot be offered the slot at short notice.
“If the appointment had been cancelled, we could have called another patient to take that spot,” Rajaniemi said. “Ongoing treatments are also disrupted, requiring rescheduling of future appointments.”
In Kymenlaakso, almost 4,000 missed appointments were in dental care. Welfare regions have the right to take further action if missed visits become frequent. In the case of minors, repeated no-shows may trigger a child protection referral.
According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the average cost of a 20-minute doctor’s visit in 2023 was 126 euros. In Pirkanmaa, a single general practitioner appointment in primary care costs around 275 euros. In Central Finland, the equivalent cost is 245 euros. These expenses are compounded by administrative costs related to rescheduling and maintaining care continuity.
Only some patients are charged a fee for missing an appointment. Those under 18, for instance, are not subject to the 56.70 euros no-show fee. This makes the financial impact of missed visits difficult to quantify precisely, but the cumulative loss to the system is significant.
While missed appointments alone do not fully account for healthcare congestion, they contribute to longer wait times and inefficiencies. The government’s austerity measures are expected to tighten the situation further.
The government plans to save 100 million euros by reducing access to social care. Specialist healthcare is expected to face cuts of 10 million euros in 2026, rising to 70 million euros in 2028. At least half of Finland’s welfare regions have already said that the required cuts are unlikely to be met within the mandated timeframes.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
