Patients bypass emergency helpline due to long waits

Finnish patients are increasingly going straight to emergency rooms instead of calling the national emergency helpline 116117 due to long wait times, Yle reports.

Wellbeing services counties advise patients to call the helpline before visiting emergency services, but some now say they will skip the call and go directly to the hospital.

Helsinki resident Ruska Salkovuo waited nearly two hours for a callback from the helpline after a spring 2025 arm injury. By the time the call came, she had already driven near the hospital. A nurse assessed her condition as non-urgent, and she was told to wait until the next morning for treatment.

“The whole point of calling the emergency helpline is to get a professional assessment of the urgency and the right place for treatment. You can’t wait too long,” Salkovuo said.

In 2025, Finland’s 116117 helpline received 2.4 million calls, up from 2.1 million in 2024 and 1.6 million in 2023. Despite the increase, some regions report that 40% of emergency room visitors never contacted the helpline first.

The service, free nationwide except in the Åland Islands, is meant for non-life-threatening emergencies. For immediate threats, patients are directed to call 112.