Conclusion of the 5th anniversary seminar: The New Children’s Hospital turned five years old and invited the top names in children’s specialized medical care to the village to consider how children’s right to quality care will be secured in the future as well.
The New Children’s Hospital has managed to achieve a lot in a short time. In five years, the hospital built with an exceptional collection has taken Finnish children’s special medical care to the top level in the world benchmark. Small premature babies are significantly more likely to survive in Finland than in the rest of the world, and the hospital offers completely new forms of treatment for difficult diseases, from babies to teenagers, covering the whole of Finland.
In honor of the anniversary, the top names in children’s specialized medical care gathered at a celebration seminar to consider how to maintain high-quality operations in the future as well. There are challenges: Finland’s child population is decreasing sharply, except for the capital region, and there is regional and between-population inequality in the organization of health care and access to treatment. In the reform of the social and health sector that entered into force this year, there is a gap in how Finland’s university children’s hospitals ensure the equality of all Finnish children when faced with serious illnesses.
Jouni Lounasmaa, director of theNew Children’s Hospital Foundation, summed up the seminar: “The message of the excellent presentations is that children’s hospital care in Finland is the best in the world, but children’s health is not going in the right direction. Particularly worrying is the development for the worse in terms of diet, exercise, rest and mental health. There is also room for improvement in regional equality of treatment and between disease groups.”
In honor of his birthday, the director of the hospital, Jari Petäjä, also visited MTV3’s Huomenta in Finland to give greetings to the decision-makers on the field:
“Cooperation between university hospitals is a matter of fate for the system of children’s specialized medical care. We need to be able to share information, experience and help each other with the mobility of professionals. I hope that operating as one hospital would be protected by law.” Petäjä summarized the ideas for guaranteeing quality in the future. Watch Petäjä’s interview with MTV3 here.
You can donate to the future of special medical care for Finnish children here.