Chancellor of Justice criticises haste of move of National Agency for Medicines to Kuopio

Minister Liisa Hyssälä promises to learn from criticism

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Minister of Social Affairs and Health Liisa Hyssälä (Centre Party) has defended the pace at which the National Agency for Medicines is being transferred from Helsinki to Kuopio.
      Hyssälä does not feel that the rapid schedule of the move had a negative effect on the quality of the operation. She says that preparations took more than a year.
      “We have acted in this according to the law, and now we are analysing if there might be anything that should be developed, in light of the decision”, Hyssälä says. “It is always possible to learn from criticism.”
     
On Tuesday, Hyssälä was criticised by Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka for the haste with which the move was implemented.
      Jonkka sees it as problematic that those who were affected were given only a few days to comment on the government’s proposal on the matter.
      “It is a bit questionable, even from a legal standpoint, that the matter was prepared with such haste.”
      The Chancellor of Justice points out that the new location of the agency was decided before any law had been passed authorising a move. He does not see this as being in line with good administrative practice.
      However, Jonkka saw no indication that any laws would have been violated.
     
Hyssälä feels that the criticism by the Chancellor of Justice is no reason to draw far-reaching political conclusions.
      “The Chancellor of Justice stated specifically that we had acted legally”, Hyssälä says, adding that “managing change requires fast decision-making.”
      Hyssälä explains the timetable, saying that regionalising the supervision of medicines was linked with a broader organisational reform of social and health care.
      In the reform, the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) and the National Public Health Institute were merged to form the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
      “THL decided on a bigger agency, and it was carried out in a much faster timetable.”
      EUR 2 million has been earmarked for the development of the new centre for medicines next year. THL is meanwhile currently preparing for staff cuts.
      Hyssälä says that the two matters are completely unrelated.
      “I cannot take a stand on the internal matters of THL.”
     
The first activities of the new centre are to begin in Kuopio in early November.
      A decision on relocating the agency was made already in January. Might the Chancellor of Justice have given his assessment a bit earlier as well?
      “This is quite a large package, and more complaints and statements were still arriving in the early summer”, Jonkka says.
      Considering the size of the package, he feels that the decision came “rather quickly”.
      In the early summer a proposed law on the matter was examined at the office of the Chancellor of Justice.
     
At least 37 employees of the National Agency for Medicines have quit their jobs rather than move to Kuopio.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Minister Hyssälä calls time: National Agency for Medicines to be moved to Kuopio (20.1.2009)
  Resignations cause problems for National Agency for Medicines (31.3.2009)

Links:
  National Agency for Medicines

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