NATIONAL ACTION PLAN/ FINLAND. 1 Background

Transcription

1 NATIONAL ACTION PLAN/ FINLAND 1 Background In accordance with Article 59 of the Professional Qualifications Directive (2005/36/EU, amend. 2013/55/EU), Member States shall submit to the Commission by 18 January 2016 a list of - existing regulated professions (positions whose initiation or pursuit requires that the person fulfils certain professional qualification requirements specified in legislation) and the activities covered by each profession; - a list of regulated vocational education and training (specified in the Directive as follows: "(R)egulated education and training : any training which is specifically geared to the pursuit of a given profession and which comprises a course or courses complemented, where appropriate, by professional training, or probationary or professional practice. The structure and level of the professional training, probationary or professional practice shall be determined by the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of the Member State concerned or monitored or approved by the authority designated for that purpose."); - a list of professions for which a prior check of qualifications is necessary under Article 7(4) (related to the provision of temporary and occasional services) and a specific justification for each of the professions listed. Member States enter the data mentioned above to the Commission database ( ome.home) Member States shall also draft a National Action Plan within the implementation period for amendment of the Directive. In this regard, the Member States shall examine whether regulation of the profession meets the following requirements: - it is neither directly nor indirectly discriminatory on the basis of nationality or residence - must be justified by overriding reasons of general interest - must be suitable for securing the attainment of the objective pursued and must not go beyond what is necessary to attain that objective. By 18 January 2016, Member States shall provide the Commission with information on the requirements they intend to maintain and the grounds for doing so. Member States shall also submit a report to the Commission concerning the requirements which have been removed or made less stringent

2 2 Process description On 16 December 2013, the Ministry of Education and Culture sent all ministries a letter for the purpose of examining regulated professions. The letter requested that each ministry submit information on the regulated professions within their purview as well as information on any planned legislative amendments regarding regulated professions. In addition to a list of regulated professions, the ministries were requested to provide the following for each profession: 1) information on provisions, which serve as the basis for the regulation of a given profession (national and/or EU legislation) 2) justifications as to why a given profession is regulated 3) brief description of the content of a given professional activity 4) information on the eligibility of foreign qualifications from the competent authority 5) English translation of the professional title This information was to be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Culture by 31 January Based on the responses received, on 29 September 2014, the Ministry of Education and Culture submitted database questions related to the proportionality of regulation to the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Profession-specific information was to be submitted to the Ministry of Education and Culture by 21 November Not all ministries provided comprehensive responses regarding each profession. Assessing the proportionality of regulation for each profession regulated based on EU legislation (such as an advocate, accountant and official auxiliary (slaughterhouse)) was considered to be particularly problematic and/or inadequate. However, this examination did serve to increase awareness of regulation and its justifications and necessity.

3 3 Finland's regulated professions and competent authorities by field business services - advocate (Finnish Bar Association) - chartered accountant (The Finnish Board for Chartered Public Finance Auditors and Central Chamber of Commerce) - chimneysweep (Finnish National Board of Education) - security company manager (Finnish National Police Board) - security guard (private security services) (Local police department) construction - crane operator (Regional State Administrative Agency, Southern Finland) - shotfirer (Regional State Administrative Agency, Western and Inland Finland) - diver working in underwater construction (Regional State Administrative Agency, Southern Finland) - electrical contractor s electrical work supervisor/ supervisor of operation of electrical equipment (Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency TUKES) manufacturing real estate transport (Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi) - person performing individual approval procedures - vehicle inspector - person responsible for vehicle inspections - person responsible for the individual approval procedure - seafaring professions wholesale and retail

4 health and social services (National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health Valvira, unless otherwise specified) - orthopaedic technician - paramedic - dental specialist o 5 specialities: dental diagnostics, orthodontics, clinical dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, health care - medical specialist o 50 specialities: emergency medicine, anaesthesiology and intensive care, endocrinology, phoniatrics, physiatrics, gastroenterology, gastroenterologic surgery, geriatrics, dermatology and allergology, infectious diseases, cardiology, respiratory diseases and allergology, clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, clinical physiology and nuclear medicine, clinical haematology, clinical chemistry, clinical microbiology, clinical neurophysiology, ear, nose and throat diseases, hand surgery, paediatric surgery, child neurology, child psychiatry, paediatrics, sports medicine, gynaecology and obstetrics, nephrology, neurosurgery, neurology, adolescent psychiatry, forensic medicine, forensic psychiatry, orthopaedics and traumatology, pathology, medical genetics, plastic surgery, psychiatry, radiology, rheumatology, opthalmology, internal medicine, oral and maxilliofacial surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, oncology, health care, occupational health care, urology, vascular surgery, general surgery, general medicine. - pharmacist - physiotherapist - dentist - dental technician - podiatrist - chiropractor - trained masseur - midwife - medical laboratory technologist - practical nurse for social and health care - practical nurse (social services) - physician - optician - naprapath - osteopath - pharmacist - psychologist

5 - psychotherapist - speech therapist - dietician - radiographer - hospital physicist - hospital geneticist - hospital chemist - hospital microbiologist - hospital cell biologist - registered nurse - social instructor (Finnish National Board of Education until 1 March 2016) - social worker (Finnish National Board of Education until 1 March 2016) - dental hygienist - community health nurse/public health nurse - occupational therapist tourism education and public administration (Finnish National Board of Education, unless otherwise specified) - instructor in morning and afternoon activities - subject teacher - teacher of vocational studies/teacher of core subjects in vocational education - special kindergarten teacher - special needs teacher - teacher providing pre-primary education - teacher providing basic education in the arts according to an advanced syllabus - kindergarten teacher - class teacher - guidance counsellor (basic education/upper secondary level/vocational education) - headmaster/principal - teacher in liberal adult education - school social worker - school social worker in charge - head of library and information services - driving instructor (Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi)

6 - head of instruction at a driving school (Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi) - driving examiner (Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi) - warder (prison and probation services) - cadastral surveyor - land surveyor - fire and rescue services crew member and sub-officer - fire officer - emergency response centre operator financial services entertainment agriculture (Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira) - veterinary surgeon - veterinary specialist - official auxiliary (slaughterhouse) network services other - supervisor for power plants (Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency TUKES) - ecclesiastical posts (Church Council and Synod of the Orthodox Church in Finland)

7 4 Situation analysis A majority of the regulated professions in Finland are based on legislation in the administrative branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. With the exception of education and training, there is relatively little regulation in other fields. 4.1 Health care professions In Finland, health care professions are licensed or authorised or have a protected occupational title. Professions are regulated under the Health Care Professionals Act (559/1994) and Decree (564/1994). Licensed or authorised professions are: physician, medical specialities, dentist, dental specialities, pharmacist, psychologist, speech therapist, dietician, pharmacist, registered nurse, midwife, community health nurse/public health nurse, physiotherapist, medical laboratory technologist, radiographer, dental hygienist, occupational therapist, optician and dental technician. Professions with a protected occupational title are: orthopaedic technician, podiatrist, trained masseuse, chiropractor, naprapath, osteopath, practical nurse, psychotherapist, hospital physicist, hospital geneticist, hospital chemist, hospital microbiologist and hospital cell biologist. The prerequisite for a licensed or authorised profession in Finland is that: 1) it is a health care profession, whose attainment requires clearly-defined, officially approved education and training; 2) self-employed professionals must possess the appropriate professional qualifications in order to ensure patient safety; 3) the risk of patient injury involved in practising the profession is above the norm; 4) the profession is practised in direct contact with the patient and often also involves close physical and mental procedures; and 5) it complies with international practises and conventions. The prerequisite for a protected occupational title in Finland is that it is a health care profession, in which the professional possesses independent authority to act in matters involving the health of the patient. The actions of professionals practising these professions may pose a risk to the health of the patient, but not to the same extent as those practising licensed or authorised professions. However, the regulation of professions with protected occupational titles is important from a patient safety standpoint. It is also important for employers, patients and consumers to be able to trust that professionals possess sufficient competence. The right conferred by the Health Care Professionals Act to practise a profession as a licensed or authorised professional does not exclude the possibility that licensed and authorised professionals and those with a protected occupational title may however

8 carry out each other's tasks, in accordance with their training, experience and professional skills and knowledge, when this is reasonable with regard to the organisation of work and supply of health services (Health Care Professionals Act, 559/1994, section2) Furthermore, professions practised by those with a protected occupational title may apply to other persons who do not have the right to use the title, but who possess the adequate education, training, experience and professional competence for the task they perform. This has allowed for transfers and developing the division of tasks between different professional groups. Entering into effect on 1 July 2010, provisions on the limited rights of registered nurses to prescribe medicines as well as the right of opticians and self-employed dental hygienists to write pro auctore prescriptions were added to the Health Care Professionals Act. The above-mentioned rights require additional training, which is provided for more specifically in Government Decree 1089/2010. Valvira, the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, enters the specialised qualifications conferred by additional training in the central register of health care professionals. With the entry into force of an amendment of the Decree on Health Care Professionals in 2008, the following titles, for which training is no longer provided in Finland, were removed from the Decree: assistant nurse, dental nurse, chiropodist, physiotherapy assistant, children's nurse, hospital and ambulance attendant, practical mental nurse, psychiatric nurse and practical nurse. Medical and dental specialists in Finland In Finland, a physician may be granted the right to practice medicine as a medical specialist, or a dentist may be granted the right to practice dentistry as a dental specialist. As a rule, Finnish legislation does not specify tasks for medical or dental specialists in a certain field. However, physician or dentist should have an appropriate expertise in the tasks he or she is working. Self-employed physicians or dentists may not market or otherwise present themselves as medical or dental specialists if they do not possess specialist training in medicine or dentistry. When hiring medical or dental specialists, public sector employers require the rights to practice in a certain field of medicine or dentistry as a condition for employment.

9 Planned changes in the regulation of health care professionals As part of the social and health care reform currently in progress in Finland, there are plans to regulate social and health care professionals in joint legislation. In this regard, there will be a need to give more in-depth consideration to the principles of regulating health care professions. Conclusions regarding health care professionals The regulation of health care professionals in Finland is appropriate and commensurate with the risk posed to patient safety by the practise of health care professionals. 4.2 Social services At present, there are two regulated professions in social services (social instructor and social worker). The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health Act on Social Welfare Professionals (817/2015) will enter into force on 1 March The new Act will lay the foundation for the licensing, registration and supervision of key social welfare professions. These professions will remain social worker, Bachelor of Social services and Bachelor of Health Care and Social Work (Elderly Care). The requirements for regulation of these professions are as follows: - professions, whose attainment requires clearly-defined, officially approved education and training - self-employed professionals must possess the appropriate professional qualifications in order to ensure patient safety; - the practise or decision-making of a professional when dealing directly with the patient involves a patient safety risk or restriction of the patient's rights or selfdetermination or an infringement of the patient's fundamental rights. The Ministry of Education and Culture aims to examine the qualification requirements for school social worker specified in the Pupil and Student Welfare Act, with the objective being to alleviate regulation where these qualification requirements are concerned. 4.3 Teachers The qualification requirements for teaching personnel in universities of applied sciences have been amended by legislation which entered into force on 1 January As a result of this legislation, the position of university of applied sciences

10 teacher is no longer a regulated profession. Under this legislation, a higher education degree or qualification of a certain level and suitable for the given task is required for these teaching positions. Conversely, the provisions no longer call for 60 credits in teacher training studies. As employers, universities of applied sciences are free to decide what degree or qualification should be required for each position as well as any other qualification requirements. The regulation of qualification requirements for university personnel has been entirely discontinued with the entry into force of legislative reform on 1 January There are no other plans to change provisions concerning the qualification requirements for teaching personnel. 4.4 Library services In February 2015, the Ministry of Education and Culture appointed a working group to prepare for the reform of the Library Act. In this regard, attention will also be given to the existing training structure for library personnel and provisions concerning qualification requirements. One alternative is that the qualification requirement for library personnel would be set no higher than the required qualification level. 4.5 Transport With regard to the proportionality of regulation, there have been no changes made to qualification requirements in the transport sector, but legislation concerning the recognition of qualifications has been clarified to the extent that an institution operating under the aegis of the Ministry of Transport and Communications would serve as a decision-maker, i.e. the competent authority also where professionals from another Member State are concerned. 5 Government Programme entries Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's Government Programme was submitted to Parliament in the form of a Government statement on 29 May The Government Programme states the following regarding, among others, the qualification requirements for municipal personnel: Detailed and narrow qualification requirements will be withdrawn. The skills of the person selected for a position will be emphasised. Qualification requirements for positions that involve the exercising of public authority will be enacted in legislation. In other respects, legislative-level educational requirements will be abandoned unless there are

11 particularly compelling reasons for not doing so. Qualification requirements will be revised so that for expert positions that require higher education the qualification requirement is, as a rule, a degree from higher education. Positions for which there are no qualification requirements prescribed in an act or decree will also be left outside regulatory control in future." The Government plans to reduce municipal costs by EUR 1 billion by cutting statutory tasks and the obligations that these carry. One way of achieving this is to make qualification requirements more flexible, such as by basing them on actual competences and suitability. In addition, the objective stated in the Government Programme section "Knowledge and Education" is to accelerate the transition from school to working life. In this regard, the Government Programme also mentions that the qualification requirements in the public sector will be updated. In accordance with the implementation plan published in September 2015 for implementation of key projects and reforms specified in the strategic Government Programme, a key project in the area of knowledge and education, whose objective is to, among others, accelerate the transition to working life, will be launched. The updating of qualification requirements in the public sector, among others, has been entered in the action plan. According to the plan, legislative projects will be carried out in Helsinki Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen