North Savo reviews emergency care in Iisalmi and Varkaus

North Savo’s wellbeing services county is reviewing who should organise emergency services in Iisalmi and Varkaus, Yle reports. Local elected representatives fear the review could lead to reduced services and worsen the shortage of doctors.

The county ended night emergency services in both towns at the turn of the year. Responsibility for hospital emergency services then shifted solely to specialised care at KYS, a university hospital. The county is now considering whether responsibility should return to local social and health centres.

Pia Hedman, the county board’s first vice-chair, said the review raised concerns that services would be concentrated again. “The southern region and Varkaus need emergency services,” she said.

Sanna Kauppinen, a county councillor from Iisalmi, believes returning responsibility to the centres could turn emergency departments into urgent-care clinics. She said urgent care and emergency treatment are distinct under the law, and that urgent-care clinics would not be enough for the Iisalmi region.

The review will also assess whether the change could save money. Service area director Jouni Kurola said the work is drawing on experience from Varkaus last summer, when a doctor shortage led to reduced opening hours. He did not say whether the services would become urgent-care clinics if responsibility returned to the centres.

Varkaus emergency services are usually open until 10pm, but in July and early August they closed at 6pm and operated as an appointment-based urgent-care clinic. Nea Tolvanen, chief shop steward for the Tehy trade union in North Savo, said nurses had to consider whether patients could be treated in Varkaus or would need to be sent to Kuopio because doctors’ schedules were full.

Tolvanen said some patients were directed to Kuopio, about an hour’s drive away, while others stayed home to wait. Some may have sought care the following morning, by which time their condition could have worsened. She said ending night emergency services was one major reason Varkaus had struggled to recruit doctors.

Kurola said the number of patients attending KYS’s emergency department at night had risen by an average of three after the night services in Varkaus and Iisalmi ended. He also said the reduction in inpatient beds in Varkaus last summer affected the department’s operations.

The review is due to be completed in the autumn and presented to decision-makers this year.