Several HUS psychiatry chief physicians announce resignations

Several chief physicians in the psychiatry division of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, known as HUS, have announced their resignations, Yle reports. The resignations are expected to take effect in October, as HUS prepares a broad organisational overhaul.

The doctors announced their plans during a meeting in early September about a planned change to the division’s leadership structure. According to an internal HUS bulletin obtained by Yle, the change has caused concern among staff and led to “very different views” about its effects.

Several chief physicians working in the IKU line said after the meeting that they intended to end their employment with HUS. The IKU line covers the areas of eastern and central Uusimaa within HUS psychiatry.

The bulletin said the departures would create challenges and require the leadership structure and responsibilities to be reassessed from the beginning of October.

Jesper Ekelund, HUS psychiatry’s divisional director and chief medical officer, said the doctors had reacted to possible organisational changes and made individual decisions regarding their employment. He denied that the resignations had been caused specifically by the meeting, saying the issue had been discussed beforehand.

The planned organisational change is intended to simplify what Ekelund described as a complex and multidimensional structure. HUS psychiatry is currently divided into lines based on different principles, including geographical areas, diagnoses, highly demanding tasks, professional groups and youth mental health services.

Under the new model, the division would have five lines organised around functions, with geographically managed units integrated into them. Ekelund said the change would be administrative and would not alter workplaces or clinical patient care.

HUS is actively recruiting for all positions, including those that will become vacant. Ekelund said the departures could threaten the operation of some units if key chief physicians were no longer working there. The organisation will therefore have to review where and how services can be provided with the resources available.