Prisons are not a popular workplace for doctors, and so medical services for prisoners in Finnish jails are contracted out. The price per hour of doctor time is usually between 100 and 200 euros, but in one tendering process last year the Attendo firm offered a spectacular deal—doctors treating prisoners for just 50 cents per hour.
They also offered doctors at a rate of 50 euros per hour, which is still well below the normal price for prison doctors. Both offers were rejected by the Criminal Sanctions Agency and the state’s procurement arm, Hansel, even though the deciding factor in the tendering process was the price.
The procuring authorities did not believe that the company could actually provide the required services at the price.
"Everyone understands that no doctor is going to work for that hourly rate," said the director of medical services in prisons, Heikki Vartiainen.
Now the company has taken the decisions to the Market Court, which deals with cases involving market law, competition law and public procurement.
Vartiainen says that after the offers were thrown out he was visited by two of Attendo’s senior managers, who said that they had based their offer on the premise that the prison system would also need to buy specialist medical services from the company on top of the basic GP consultations.
Answering Yle’s questions by email, the company’s head of operations Heikki Haimakainen said that his firm stands by the offer.
"We are committed to providing all the healthcare services at the price in our offer," wrote Haimakainen.
Proceedings in the Market Court are ongoing.