Your rights as a patient

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Patient safety event report 

There may have been an unexpected hazard or near miss in your treatment. As a service provider, we are responsible for the safety of your treatment. We constantly supervise and improve patient safety on the basis of information form a variety of sources.

As a patient, you can report any safety event that you notice while in care. You may submit an anonymous report to us to improve our operations.

You can submit a patient safety event report here

 If a safety event results in an actual or suspected patient injury, see Patient injury report .

If there has been a patient injury according to the Patient Insurance Act in your care or if you suspect it, you have the right to submit a patient injury report. You must submit the patient injury report to the Patient Insurance Center within three years of the injury becoming known. 

Go to the Patient Insurance Center website here

Patient Insurance Act (948/2019)

If you are dissatisfied with your care or behavior towards you, you can file a written objection. However, we recommend that you first talk to the unit that provided your care to resolve the issue. 

Objections are processed by the director in charge of healthcare, who will request the necessary statements from the employees who provided the care and the professionals responsible for the actions taken. Once the objection has been processed, we will respond in writing. We aim to respond within a reasonable time, usually within four weeks. 

Filing an objection does not restrict your right to complain about your care or behavior towards you to the authorities that supervise healthcare services, such as Valvira, the relevant Regional State Administrative Agency or the Parliamentary Ombudsman. Filing an objection also does not restrict your right to submit a patient injury report.

If a patient is unable to file an objection themselves because of their state of health or because they are deceased, an objection may be filed on their behalf by a family member or close friend without separate power of attorney. In such situations, please explain in the ‘Additional information’ field why the patient is unable to file an objection or provide power of attorney. If necessary, we will contact the patient to ask their view on the matter before the objection made by their next of kin is handled. In the absence of a power of attorney, we will provide a response to the patient or the next of kin of a deceased patient.

An adult patient may authorize another person to conduct transactions on their behalf, in which case the response to an objection will be delivered to that person. See [Managing affairs and acting on behalf of another person] and append your power of attorney to the objection. If you have a power of attorney, we recommend that you discuss the matter with the patient if possible and describe their views in the objection.

Act on the Status and Rights of Patients (785/1992), section 10

Read the instruction for using the Suomi.fi e-service.

You can file an objection: 

1. Electronically with strong identification (Suomi.fi) using your online banking credentials or mobile certificate

• Open e-form: Objection

2. With a paper form, which you must print, sign and mail to the address given on the form

• Open printable form: Objection (pdf)

3. A free-form letter which must contain the same information as requested on the form. The letter must be mailed to the address given on the form.

You can file an objection on behalf of a minor:

1. Electronically with strong identification (Suomi.fi) using your online banking credentials or mobile certificate

• Open e-form: Objection (on behalf of a minor)

2. With a paper form, which you must print, sign and mail to the address given on the form

• Open printable form: Objection (on behalf of a minor) (pdf)

3. A free-form letter which must contain the same information as requested on the form. The letter must be mailed to the address given on the form.

The objection and related information will be stored in our administrative matters register. 

As a rule, our response will be delivered using the same method you used when submitting your request, unless you request another delivery method.

If you are filing an objection on someone’s behalf, please read the instructions related to acting on behalf of another person on the website under ‘Managing affairs and acting on behalf of another person’ (LINK).

Please note:

• Fill out the form carefully. If the information is incomplete, the processing cannot begin and will be delayed.
• If you have had more than one personal identity number during the period covered by the objection, please give this information in the additional information field on the form.

Read the instruction for using the Suomi.fi e-service.

You have the right to file a complaint with the healthcare supervisory authority if you are displeased with your care. The authorities recommend that you first discuss the issue at the institution where you were provided care, and if no resolution can be found, file an objection with the director in charge of health care.

Complaints concerning matters that occurred more than two years earlier will not be considered unless there are special reasons to do so. Complaints regarding healthcare will mostly be addressed by regional state administrative agencies.

A complaint may be filed with Valvira, for example, if it is suspected that malpractice has resulted in death or serious permanent injury to the patient. 

Objection or complaint (Valvira)

If necessary, a patient ombudsperson will advise you how to file an objection, a patient injury report and a complaint .

Patient ombudspersons at HUS

Act on the Status and Rights of Patients (785/1992), section 10a

Material damage consists for instance of a patient losing a dental prosthetic or breaking their eyeglasses during treatment at a hospital as the result of an error or negligence committed by a staff member. In such cases, you may file a claim for compensation in writing. 

Liability for compensation is provided for in the Tort Liability Act.

You can file a claim application: 

1. Electronically with strong identification (Suomi.fi) using your online banking credentials or mobile certificate

• Open e-form: Claim for compensation

2. With a paper form, which you must print, sign and mail to the address given on the form

• Open printable form: Compensation claim application (pdf)

3. A free-form letter which must contain the same information as requested on the form. The letter must be mailed to the address given on the form.

The compensation claim application and related information are stored in our administrative affairs register. 

As a rule, our response will be delivered using the same method you used when submitting your request, unless you request another delivery method.

Please note:

• Fill out the form carefully. If the information is incomplete, the processing cannot begin and will be delayed.
• If you have had more than one personal identity number during the period covered by the claim for compensation, please give this information in the additional information field on the form.

Read the instruction for using the Suomi.fi e-service.

We record information related to your treatment in patient documents. We only record the information necessary for your treatment. The HUS hospital employees who participate in your treatment and examination are allowed to access your patient information. 

Read more about patient documents and your rights regarding them here.