Rise in the number of individuals who had their professional practice rights reinstated
The number of social welfare and health care professionals who successfully sought to have their revoked professional practice rights reinstated grew slightly in 2022 compared to the previous year. Valvira fully or partially reinstated the professional practice rights of 33 applicants. The Supervisory Board processed a total of 76 applications for reinstatement of professional practice rights in 2022. Of the applications that were granted in full, 10 were from applicants who had previously asked to have their professional practice rights revoked themselves. Four cases involved individuals who had previously had their right to practise or use a protected occupational title suspended, and the reinstatement of rights in these cases was based on the absence of patient safety concerns that would have justified keeping the suspensions in place.
A total of 91 social welfare and health care professionals had their professional practice rights revoked in 2022. The number was slightly up on the previous year, when 86 professionals had their rights revoked. A total of 39 of the decisions made in 2022 involved restricting a person’s professional practice rights. Of the affected individuals, 24 were physicians, 19 of whom received decisions restricting their prescribing rights.
Decisions to revoke or restrict a person’s professional practice rights are often based on the individual’s suffering from a substance abuse problem or other health issues, lacking the required professional competence or having engaged in other unethical conduct. Valvira has the power to revoke or restrict a social welfare or health care professional’s professional practice rights if doing so is deemed necessary to ensure client and patient safety. The goal is to prevent that individual from putting the proper care of clients and patients at risk.
Decisions on restricting, revoking and reinstating professional practice rights are taken by Valvira’s Supervisory Board for Social Welfare and Health Care Professionals. The Supervisory Board is also responsible for deciding on the revocation of the right to use a protected occupational title and on the issuance of written warnings.
Valvira publishes statistics compiled by the Supervisory Board on health care professionals, which can be viewed on Finland’s national open data portal (in Finnish) (avoindata.fi). The dataset contains information on licensed doctors and nurses as well as practical nurses with a protected occupational title who had their professional practice rights revoked or restricted between 2010 and 2022.
Further information:
Senior Officer, Legal Affairs Anna Valkeajoki, +358 (0)29 520 9411