Ministry to plug loophole in treatment guarantee for child psychiatry
Youth psychiatry age limits to be harmonised in hospital districts
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The Ministry of social Affairs and Health says that it will plug a loophole in legislation on treating mental health problems in youth. The ministry plans to set uniform age limits for youth psychiatric treatment. In practice, the change is expected to make it easier for those around the age of 20 to get into treatment in three months.
Under the rules of the treatment guarantee system, young people suffering from mental health problems must not have to wait longer than three months to get into treatment.
However, the law does not specify when a person is considered to be young. The maximum age limit for a “young” patient varies between 17 and 23 from one hospital district to another.
For instance, in Helsinki, “youth” are defined as those aged 13 to 17. However, in Lappeenranta, youth psychiatric care is available to patients up to 22 years of age. Treatment queues for those considered adults can stretch to six months.
Minister of Social Services Paula Risikko (Nat. Coalition Party) has asked representatives of the various hospital districts to a meeting next Tuesday to discuss uniform age limits. If no agreement is reached, the government hopes to set specific age limits in a new law on health care.
“I take the view that common age limits will be agreed upon on Tuesday and that the hospital districts will start taking them into use on Wednesday”, Risikko says.
However, the minister does not yet want to say where the limit should be set. There have been proposals from within the ministry to extend youth psychiatric care to the age of 26.
“The age limit for child protective services, 21, has also been brought forward. Probably the limit will be somewhere in between”, says ministry official Erna Snellman. “Setting an age limit is difficult, because young people of the same age can be at different levels in development.”
Snellman says that it could take a couple of years before new age limits are set, as the hospital districts need time to change their procedures.
In addition to specialised health care, the age limits would extend to out-patient care, municipal social services, and the Finnish Student Health Service.
The ministry took action when the National Authority for Medicolegal Affairs (TEO) called for uniform age limits in September. According to TEO, it has not been possible to effectively monitor the availability of mental health care for young people because of the variation in age limits.
TEO head physician Markus Henriksson says that it is even possible that the hospital districts have used the loophole to keep the waiting lists for treatment short.
“At least the opportunity has been there. When there is no age limit in the law, the hospital district has been able to report only those who are under 18 and on a waiting list for treatment.”
TEO is calling on the hospital districts to keep better statistics on the availability of mental health services for different age groups. According to Henriksson, there is no precise information on how great the need is for mental health services for young people.
Changing the age limits is expensive for local authorities; providing easier access to treatment involves money. According to Jussi Merikallio, head of social and health affairs for the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities, the costs cannot yet be estimated.
Another problem is that there are not enough trained youth psychiatrists in Finland at the moment. According to Erna Snellman, this can be remedied by developing training for adult psychiatrists.
In the Lappeenranta area, a young person can end up waiting for psychiatric care for a long time, but Sihti, the clinic for those under 23, promises to arrange an appointment within a few days.
“There is not an issue for which a young person could not come here”, says psychiatric nurse Jaana Stigman. She feels that it is good that 22-year-olds are still within the bounds of youth psychiatry.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 31.10.2008 - TODAY |
 Ministry to plug loophole in treatment guarantee for child psychiatry |
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