Shortage of forensic doctors leads to death certificate backlog
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Getting a death certificate after a forensic autopsy can sometimes take more than a year.
The law calls for death certificates to be ready within three months of death, but a shortage of doctors performing autopsies has led to a situation in which next of kin, police, and insurance companies end up waiting longer for the documents.
Cases in which homicide is suspected are given priority, but even then, there is not always enough time to draw up a death certificate in a timely fashion.
There is also something of a backlog of autopsies. Sometimes it may take up to a week after a death before the procedure takes place.
More forensic doctors would be needed to balance out the work load.
“The burden is overwhelming for many. Nobody works only the official working hours”, says Riitta Kauppila, head physician of the Forensic Medicine unit of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
However, there are few places in Finland where a doctor can specialise in forensic medicine, and from the beginning of next year, training will end at the University of Helsinki.
Many of the existing doctors are retiring in the coming years.
The problem is recognised at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, but no solution is on the horizon.
Ministry lawyer Kirsi Ruuhonen admits that the situation is difficult, and says that the future of the official activity needs to be secured.
Autopsies are performed in connection with about one in three deaths in Finland, and nearly four out of five involve forensic medicine, as ordered by police.
This happens if a death is not known to have been caused by illness, or if it involves a crime, an accident, suicide, poisoning, occupational disease, or suspected medical malpractice.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 17.6.2010 - TODAY |
 Shortage of forensic doctors leads to death certificate backlog
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