Parliament Approves Preliminary Patient Safety Bill

Parliament has approved a preliminary version of a controversial bill requiring some nurses to work during labour disputes. The opposition was unsuccessful in making changes to the law, and there were no defections among government party MPs when the final vote came just before 3 a.m. on Tuesday. As the debate on patient safety intensified, the opposition questioned why lawmakers are not focused on finding a solution to the labour dispute. Instead, it claimed the government is determined to pass a law, which even it admits will not solve Finland's impending healthcare crisis. However, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was quick to defend the legislation, arguing it will not impede progress in the labour dispute. Under the law, employees could be forced to work if they have quit during a labour dispute. Overtime and days-off can also be regulated, but no one will be forced to work an unreasonable number of hours. Parliament is to hold a required second vote on the bill early Friday morning, after which President Tarja Halonen is expected to sign the bill. If all goes as planned, the law will come into force next week, in time for the potential mass resignations of nurses. Tehy: Law Will Impede Negotiations Nurses belonging to the Union of Health and Social Care Professionals, or Tehy, have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the law. "People are extremely angry. They want to organise all kind of demonstrations all over Finland. Are we to wait at our homes so that police will take us to work? Finland is a democratic country. We really can't believe this would happen in Finland," Marja-Kaarina Koskinen, Education and Scientific Advisor at Tehy, told YLE News. Koskinen also fears that employers are no longer taking negotiations seriously, and that the government's proposed law on patient safety weakens prospects for a settlement. "Everybody wants to keep face. The government wants to make the law because they want to show that they are taking care of patients. But employers, they are sitting quiet and still. They are not saying a word," she said. Individual vs. Societal Rights Under the initial government proposal, healthcare professionals outside of the industrial action could have been ordered to work. However, the committee working on the bill did not want to go this far. Constitutional law Professor Veli-Pekka Viljanen also believes this would have been too difficult, as it boils down to the issue of restricting individual rights. Under existing law, nurses are required to maintain a minimum level of staff during an ordinary strike. Instead of a traditional strike, Tehy has announced a mass resignation of more than 12,000 nurses employed by Finnish local authorities as of November 19th to back demands for significant pay increases. Vanhanen defended the government's proposal that would oblige a certain number of qualified nursing staff to treat patients even if a labour dispute is going on. In a radio interview on YLE on Sunday, Vanhanen noted that it is the duty of society to protect human life in all situations. He compared the bill with legislation that allows fire brigades to order passers-by to assist in putting out forest fires. YLE