It's time to say thank you – Valvira’s operations are coming to an end, but its core tasks will continue
Valvira’s operations will end at the end of 2025, when the new Finnish Supervisory Agency will commence operations on 1 January 2026. In this online news article, we stop to say thank you for the past years and look back with Director General Markus Henriksson on the agency’s 17 years of operation.
Ensuring patient and customer safety and promoting a safe living environment have been the core of Valvira’s work – and this fundamental task will also continue in the new agency. According to Director General Markus Henriksson , Valvira has succeeded in keeping this goal in clear focus, even though its scope of duties has been broad and the operating environment challenging at times.
Valvira’s 17 years of operation
Valvira started in 2009 with the merger of the National Authority for Medicolegal Affairs (TEO) and the National Product Control Agency for Welfare and Health (STTV). TEO transferred healthcare licensing and supervision activities to Valvira, while STTV brought alcohol administration, tobacco matters, and tasks related to environmental health.
Valvira’s tasks have expanded over the years. In 2010, the agency was given responsibility for national licensing and supervisory tasks in social welfare. Between 2010 and 2019, Valvira was also responsible for health technology tasks. Two important national institutions moved from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health to Valvira: the Finnish Adoption Board and the National Medical Research Ethics Committee, Tukija. In recent years, one priority has been to strengthen the supervision of customer and patient information systems.
Valvira has acted as the central agency within the administrative sector of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, but it has also been responsible for the supervision of early childhood education under the guidance of the Ministry of Education and Culture, as well as for certain tasks in other administrative sectors. The work of this small agency has been highly diverse, but its core mission has remained the same: ensuring people’s safety and rights in social welfare and health care, as well as in their living environment.
Values as basis for action
In its operations, Valvira has strongly relied on its values – expertise, courage and fairness. According to Henriksson, these values have been reflected in the agency’s everyday work in tangible ways:
“We have cultivated our own expertise and also made extensive use of external experts and the expertise of our partners. It took courage to prioritise as much as was legally possible and to make well-founded decisions, even though we knew that they would not always please everyone. Fairness has meant proportionality and multifaceted evaluation – not one-sidedness.”
Effective supervision through cooperation
Valvira has engaged in extensive and multidisciplinary cooperation with various actors in the areas of supervision and guidance. The highest legal authorities have overseen Valvira, but cooperation with them has also been essential. Valvira has submitted comprehensive reports and statements to the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Chancellor of Justice for their assessments of other authorities. Parliamentary committees have also given appreciative feedback on Valvira’s statements in the preparation of legislation.
“Key partners have been the Regional State Administrative Agencies, with whom we have worked closely to monitor and guide wellbeing services counties and municipalities, social welfare and health care organised by the state, and the private sector. The common goal – strengthening patient and customer safety and the safety of the living environment – has been promoted through determined dialogue, coordination of supervision and self-monitoring,” Henriksson says.
"Cooperation with the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the Finnish Medicines Agency (Fimea), the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland, for example in the exchange of information, register functions and development work, has been important. Our preemptive supervisory work in registering and guiding professionals and organisations, as well as in alcohol administration, tobacco issues and health protection, forms one cornerstone of safety,” Henriksson continues.
Director General Henriksson emphasises the importance of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health for Valvira’s activities. Throughout Valvira’s existence, the ministry has provided the agency with support and expert guidance, while recognising its independence. Valvira has also been able to support the ministry in many ways with its own expertise.
Towards a new Supervisory Agency
"In addition to all its other tasks, Valvira has done a great deal of work over the past two years to help establish the new Finnish Supervisory Agency. We can move into the new agency with pride and satisfaction in the work we have done. The limited resources available and the legislative framework have set the parameters for what we have been able to achieve – and within these parameters, we have been very successful. A warm thanks to all Valvira employees – and also to our partners for their support and excellent cooperation,” Henriksson says.
Valvira's story ends, but its work continues at the Finnish Supervisory Agency. Many long-standing experts will continue the same responsible work – under new structures, but towards the same familiar goal.
“It is important that the basic idea of strengthening patient and customer safety and the safety of the living environment remains clear in the new agency, as well. It has been the essence of Valvira’s existence – and will continue to be for the new supervisory agency,” Henriksson says.