North Savo moves Varpaisjärvi child health services farther away

North Savo wellbeing services county will close the child health clinic in Varpaisjärvi, moving maternity and child health services more than 20 kilometres away to Lapinlahti. Yle reported that the clinic will open for the last time on October 6.

Local families have criticised the decision, saying appointments will require more travel and careful planning. There is no adequate public transport between the settlements, meaning many parents will need to use their own cars.

Tiia Repo, a mother of two from Varpaisjärvi, works in Kuopio. She said she would need to take a holiday day or unpaid leave from work to attend clinic appointments in Lapinlahti.

“It feels as if the wellbeing services county wants to dismantle a functioning child health clinic network, and that decisions about the changes are being made in a hurry,” Repo said.

The closure threat also extends to Varpaisjärvi health centre, although a decision on that matter has not yet been made. Varpaisjärvi, which was an independent municipality until 2011, now belongs to Lapinlahti.

Repo’s family has used the health centre for treatment of a young child’s burn, fever and ear infections. The centre also provides dental care and mental health clinic services, including treatment for insomnia.

North Savo wellbeing services county said the clinic closure is due to a decline in the number of children. The need for staff is calculated based on the number and age distribution of children in the area, as well as the scheduled health examinations offered.

Minna Pitkänen, director of family services at the wellbeing services county, said the number of children leaving the child health clinic system in Varpaisjärvi is higher than the number of new children entering it. She said the health visitor would soon have had to visit the settlement only a couple of times a month.

The changes are part of a wider reduction in the number of child health clinics across Finland. Laura Järvelä, a senior inspector in the social and health care department of the Permit and Supervisory Agency, said the law requires social and health services to be provided close to clients, but does not set a specific distance limit for local services.

Wellbeing services counties are also replacing some physical services with digital ones. Järvelä said digital services do not always provide an equivalent to local services, particularly when health examinations are required.

Marja Tuovinen, a mother of four from Varpaisjärvi, said the closure would make everyday scheduling more difficult. Until now, a child health nurse from Lapinlahti has visited Varpaisjärvi once a week, and maternity clinic appointments have also been arranged there.

Tuovinen criticised the use of statistics on how often people from Varpaisjärvi have attended appointments in Lapinlahti. She said the figures were unfair because appointments in Varpaisjärvi had only been available one day a week.

Hannu Kokki, chair of the North Savo wellbeing services county council, said the Ministry of Finance is strongly steering wellbeing services counties away from municipality or settlement based planning.