Number of doctors and nurses is going up while number of patients is declining

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A recent study published in Finland by the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) indicates that the numbers of both doctors and nurses are steadily growing, and that even more money is being used for health services than before, while the number of patients - particularly in hospitals - is declining, fewer visits are recorded, and less time is devoted per patient.
      Also the number of doctors' appointments at municipal health centres has decreased, whereas the number of visits to other staff has increased.
     
The number of visits to private physicians as well as the number of doctors offering private care have both turned slowly upward since the end of the 1990s.
      In 2003, the number of visits to private health care clinics was more than 30% of all out-patient calls in Finland.
      In Finland, the number of doctors in private practice is close to 1,600, while the total number of practising physicians is about 15,500.
      The number of the Finns' visits to private practices was over 3.4 million last year, and a total of over EUR 63 million was paid as reimbursements of medical expenses for doctor's fees and treatment/examination charges by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA).
      The study also indicates that part of the country suffers from a lack of physicians while the number of practicing doctors keeps on growing.
      The reason for this is apparently the fact that most of the doctors wish to remain in the vicinity of the university cities, and hence for example in the Oulu region there are over 300 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants. On the other hand, in the Kemi region, slightly over 100 km north from Oulu, there are only 100 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants.
      On the other hand, the study does not give reasons for the growth of health care personnel and the simultaneous decrease in the number of patients.
     
The calls to doctors have gone down most in maternity and child care as well as school health care and home health care services, whereas in the field of psychiatry, the number of patients with mental disorders has clearly been growing since 1997. Moreover, the number of children with mental disorders has gone up by almost 40% in the period from 1998 to 2003, while the number of adult patients decreased by 4% in the same period.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish health care favours the rich (22.12.2004)

Links:
  The National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health
  The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA)

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