The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) has notified regional and regulatory authorities about the critical situation caused by long queues at the New Children's Hospital's intensive care unit.
HUS issued its notification to Southern Finland's Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi), National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) as well as the ministry of social affairs and health.
Under normal circumstances, the queue for heart surgery is an average of 50-60 children long. Currently there are 117 children on the waiting list at the New Children's Hospital.
Out of those, 51 of the patients — 44 percent — needing surgery have been waiting longer than Finland's 180-day obligatory treatment limit, the hospital district noted.
Last December, Ilta-Sanomat reported there were about 90 children waiting for surgery.
Legislation shifted all children's heart surgery and organ transplant procedures in Finland to be carried out at the New Children's Hospital. It is the only such facility in the country offering ECMO — or heart-lung machine — treatment for children.
Jari Petäjä, HUS' director of children's and adolescent's disease division, blamed the situation on staffing shortfalls.
"In terms of children's access to intensive care, the situation is critical. This is a matter that concerns all of Finland. On the other hand, the difference between the current situation and a sustainable one, in terms of need, is only a shortfall of around 20-25 ICU nurses needed to supervise three to five heavy intensive care beds," Petäjä said in a statement.
HUS has appointed an expert working group to examine ways that would help the struggling hospital to fulfil the legal treatment obligations. The group will examine how to lighten the hospital ward's load on resources with the help of other treatment facilities. A report on the working group's findings is due by the end of the year.
The New Children's Hospital, which opened its doors in 2018, also treats young patients with rare illnesses from across the country. Just one-third of the hospital's ICU ward's patients live in the HUS district, while the remaining 67 percent are from other hospital districts.
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