HUS year 2022: Patient care
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the nursing staff strike and issues in service chain continuity and personnel availability made the year under review exceptional and highly challenging, as indeed was the case with the three preceding years.
The coronavirus pandemic had escalated again before New Year 2022, and the year under review began amidst a rising trend in the number of coronavirus patients. Unlike at previous times when this pandemic accelerated, there were now several patients on our wards who had a coronavirus infection but whose principal reason for hospitalization was something else. Because of the extraordinary arrangements that had to be made for these patients, we were forced to cut down on treatments we could offer to other patients.
Patient care was also impacted in the spring as an overtime and shift swap ban was declared for nursing staff in February and March, and in April they went on strike.
Problems with access to further treatment caused crowding at emergency clinics and on wards
In the year under review, referring patients from specialized mhealth care to further treatment in basic health care became substantially more difficult. The situation deteriorated sharply after summer. This problem stemmed from poor availability of primary health and social services provided by local authorities, such as further treatment spots in enhanced service housing for the elderly. Service chain continuity issues manifested themselves in HUS as an increase in the number of transfer delay inpatient days and also as crowding at emergency departments. The major crowding peaks at emergency departments occurred in late summer and in the runup to Christmas.
The number of referrals received by HUS in 2022 was on a par with the previous year. In September 2022, HUS had a historically high number of patients on waiting lists who had been waiting for care beyond the statutory care guarantee.
Patient care in figures
In 2022, HUS specialized medical care and emergency departments treated a total of 672,686 patients.
Access to treatment and waiting times
There were multiple factors contributing to the burden on specialized medical care, and this was reflected in access to treatment. Under these difficult circumstances, not all patients received the care they needed in a timely manner.
Laboratories and imaging
Our services were impacted by availability of personnel and by industrial action in the spring. The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on our operations decreased substantially.
Quality and patient safety
In 2022, we began preparing a quality manual and augmented our Guideline Databank with care and patient guidelines. Safety event reports improved patient safety.
