Requests for information and research permits for Valvira datasets
Requests for Information
Pursuant to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities, everyone has the right to access information contained in public Valvira documents. Documents held by government authorities are public, unless they are specifically deemed confidential by law. If a government authority refuses to disclose a document on grounds of confidentiality or for any other reason, the party making the request can call for a decision to be issued on said refusal. That decision can then be appealed to the relevant Administrative Court.
Requests for information should be addressed to the Valvira registry, which will forward them to the relevant official for a response. A request for information may be submitted by e-mail, letter or phone. In case of an oral request for information, Valvira may in certain circumstances require the party in question to submit their request in writing. By default, any document or part thereof requested must be disclosed in the manner requested.
Contact information for the Valvira registry:
[email protected]
National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, PO Box 43, FI-00521 Helsinki
+358 (0)295 209 111 (Valvira switchboard)
In the case of a request for information concerning a public document, we will release the information as soon as possible, no later than two weeks after Valvira received the request. The party requesting the information will be notified if, in an exceptional case, the processing of the matter will take more than two weeks.
If the processing and resolution of a request for information require special measures (e.g. if the documents in question contain sections that must be kept confidential) or otherwise require more work than usual, we aim to resolve the matter and release the information no later than one month after receiving the request.
Basically, there is no charge for submitting a request for information. However, in certain cases a fee may be charged as per the Decree of the Ministry of Social Affairs and health on Valvira’s services subject to a fee and according to the Valvira tariff on commercial services. The tariff is given at the end of this page. A fee may be charged for a request for information if processing the request requires special measures and the data cannot be directly drawn from the register in question.
Research permits
We grant permits for access to the datasets we maintain, for the purposes of scientific research, statistics compilation and official duties. These data are released for use under the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data and the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. Some Valvira datasets are public.Moreover, some Valvira datasets are available as open data.A permit will not be granted if it is clear that the data would be used for purposes other than those acceptable by law. A permit will not be granted, for instance, for obtaining data concerning the case of a specific private individual.
Valvira offers advisory services on the data content of registers
If you plan to utilise our datasets, please contact us before submitting an application. We will provide you with advisory services as to the feasibility of the proposed data retrieval and its costs. For further information on the data content of our registers, please refer to the data privacy statements compiled on our Data Protection pages.
The use of permit and supervisory data in social welfare and health care held by Valvira in contexts other than by the supervisory authority itself is provided for in the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data. The aforementioned Act applies to the following Valvira registers and decisions:
- Central register of health care professionals (Terhikki)
- Central register of social welfare professionals (Suosikki)
- Register of private early childhood education and care service providers and self-employed practitioners (Soteri)
- Decisions issued in the context of steering and supervising operating units and professionals in social welfare and health care, such as decisions restricting the right to practise.
Access to other confidential datasets may be granted pursuant to the Act on the Openness of Government Activities. Such a permit may be granted for the purposes of scientific research, statistics compilation, or planning or investigation by a government authority. Such a permit may only be granted if the data disclosure will not infringe upon the rights of the parties for whose protection the dataset was declared confidential in the first place.
If datasets, and hence permits, are required from multiple authorities in the administrative branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, you must apply to the Ministry for a permit.
The research permit application (or its appendices) must contain at least the following details:
- Applicant’s details (name, position, contact information)
- Title of the study, research plan, location and researchers, coordinator
- Description, purpose and justification for using the dataset
- Data protection notification: description of how personal data are to be processed in the study (only if the datasets to be accessed contain personal data)
- Copies of any other permits related to the dataset
- Non-disclosure agreements signed by the researchers
- Invoicing details
For projects not involving scientific research (e.g. investigation or development projects undertaken by government authorities), the purpose of accessing the dataset(s) in question must be described as applicable.
Valvira charges a fee for permit decisions. Applicants will be informed in advance of the fees charged.
| Research permits, copies and decisions on requests for information | EUR |
|---|---|
| Permit to access confidential documents | 250 |
| Permit to access confidential documents for the purpose of an academic thesis or dissertation | 80 |
| Certified copy of a document held by or presented to the authority, per page, maximum EUR 30 per document | 3 |
| Fee for decisions on requests for information under the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data | 250 |
| Fee for decisions on requests for information under the Act on the Secondary Use of Health and Social Data for an academic thesis or dissertation | 80 |