Waiting times for primary healthcare lengthen as specialist care improves, Finnish institute reports

Waiting times for non-urgent primary healthcare appointments in Finland grew longer last year, according to new figures from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

The maximum wait time for adult patients to see a doctor increased from two weeks to three months, the data shows. As a result, only 59% of adults were seen within the two-week target period.

Meanwhile, access to specialist care showed signs of improvement. The share of patients waiting more than six months for treatment fell by two percentage points to 12.7% over the past year, with the total number of patients on waiting lists dropping by nearly 8,000.