Turku patients spend longest in night emergency care
Thursday 15th October 2026 on 15:45 in
Finland
Patients spent the longest time in night emergency care in Southwest Finland and the shortest in Central Finland, according to a Yle comparison of August figures from 15 wellbeing services counties.
The average stay was almost six and a half hours in Southwest Finland and just under five hours in Central Finland. Across the areas included in the comparison, patients generally spent between five and six hours in night emergency departments. The longest and shortest averages differed by about an hour and a half.
Mikko Pietilä, director of hospital services at Turku University Hospital, said differences in procedures make comparisons between emergency departments difficult. In Turku, the recorded time includes the wait for transport home, which Pietilä said is not controlled by the emergency department. The size of units also varies, he said.
The Licensing and Supervisory Authority said Southwest Finland has improved patients’ access to further treatment from the hospital’s emergency department. In March, the authority ordered the regional wellbeing services county to address the issue by the end of August 2026.
Jyväskylä had the shortest average stay in the comparison. Tuomo Kyrönlahti, chief physician and emergency services manager for the Central Finland wellbeing services county, said he was pleased with the result, while noting that average times were broadly similar across the areas surveyed.
At Hospital Nova in Jyväskylä, afternoons and evenings are busier than night-time, Kyrönlahti said. Patient numbers and the careful screening of people arriving at night affect the time spent in the department. Many patients arrive by ambulance, and paramedics carry out screening for a significant share of them. Kyrönlahti also urged patients to contact the round-the-clock medical helpline before going to emergency care so their need for treatment can be assessed.
Delays in access to further care can also extend stays in Jyväskylä, Kyrönlahti said. If patients cannot move to a ward, the average time in the emergency department increases.