Treatment time guarantee
The Health Care Act(Link leads to external service) outlines the timeframe within which you must get access to non-urgent care. This is called the treatment time guarantee. You can read more about the treatment time guarantee on the website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (in Finnish)(Link leads to external service) .
You should be able to reach primary health care services, such as health stations and dental care, on weekdays during office hours on the same day of your initial contact. A health care professional should also assess your treatment need on the same day you have made contact.
In Helsinki, you can contact primary health care services through digital channels.
- The Sotebotti Hester chatbot is available 24/7 to answer questions about Helsinki’s health and social services.
Sotebotti Hester on the website of health and social services - If you have new or worsening symptoms, the Omaolo (Link leads to external service) symptom assessment tool is available for self-assessment. It provides guidance, instructions, and, if necessary, connects you with a health care professional.
- Additionally, many services provide a callback option. We respond to callback requests on weekdays on the same day you contact us.
- For non-urgent matters, you can use the Maisa (Link leads to external service) service. We will respond to you within two working days.
The treatment time guarantee stipulates that for over 23-year-olds care at a health station should be accessible within 3 months or according to the timeframe outlined in a treatment or rehabilitation plan.
For under 23-year-olds care should be accessible within 14 days for cases involving illness, injury, worsening of a chronic condition, new symptoms, or decreased functional capacity. This maximum waiting time does not apply to tasks such as obtaining certificates or medical statements, health examinations, or follow-up visits.
Dental care should be accessible for under 23-year-olds within three months and for others within six. We primarily offer service vouchers to adult clients.
If tests indicate that you require hospital care, specialised health care services must assess your situation within three weeks of your case being referred to the hospital, and treatment must be provided to you within six months.
If you require urgent treatment, you can go to an emergency service point for immediate first aid and treatment.
Waiting times in primary health care in the City of Helsinki
According to section 55 of the Health Care Act, key figures on access to treatment must be based on reports published by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). At the moment, however, there are still shortcomings in the quality of the reports.
Our health stations offer a callback service. In September 2025, the average time it took for us to call our clients back was 1 hour and 17 minutes.
We usually assess the need for treatment immediately either by phone or in person at the location. Based on a statutory assessment of the need for treatment, you will receive guidance, counselling, or a referral to an appropriate professional. If necessary, you may be booked for an appointment or receive self-care advice tailored to your situation.
In addition to the statutory maximum waiting times, Helsinki aims to provide access to a doctor within 30 days and to a nurse within 14 days for non-urgent care.
In oral healthcare, we assess the need for treatment primarily by phone on the same day. Urgent care appointments can be scheduled for the same day.
In September 2025, the average time it took for us to call our clients back was 37 minutes.
Currently, there are 5 160 patients in the treatment guarantee queue (as of 6 October 2025).
The city provides oral health services not only through its own operations but also via purchased services and service vouchers. For adults, a service voucher may be offered as an alternative to the city's own services if the situation allows. Depending on the service provider, the waiting time for treatment ranges from 1 to 30 days (more information can be found on the Palse.fi website(Link leads to external service) ).
The queue is growing. This is due to the reduction of non-urgent services and increased demand. Measures to address the situation are being prepared.
THL reports on treatment access times
Access to treatment in oral health care within the maximum time limit (in Finnish, opens in a new window)(Link leads to external service)
Follow-up dental care within 4 weeks of the first visit (in Finnish, opens in a new window)(Link leads to external service)
Call-back times
Some appointment calls are answered directly, while others are transferred to a call-back service. As a rule, calls are processed on the same day.
Between 1 February and 30 April 2025, we received a total of 7,385 calls:
- 4,216 were direct calls (57%), of which 92.8% were answered immediately
- 3,169 (43%) were call-back requests
Access to treatment
We serve clients of lower secondary school age and older in centralised outpatient physiotherapy facilities. Referrals are usually made on the basis of a doctor’s assessment. Children, pregnant people, and new parents can also receive a referral from a child health clinic or school health service.
Clients with musculoskeletal symptoms can apply for physiotherapy through their own health station’s treatment needs assessment or by completing the Omaolo symptom checker (for back, shoulder, and knee symptoms). Based on the assessment, people aged 16 and over can be referred directly to a health station for an appointment with a physiotherapist.
The availability of appointments is monitored weekly for both centralised outpatient physiotherapy and direct appointments.
Telephone contacts
- From 1 January to 20 March 2025, we received 2,181 calls:
- 339 call-back requests (15.5%)
- 1,842 direct calls (84.5%), of which 417 were answered immediately (22.6% of direct calls)
Access to treatment
It is possible to request a treatment needs assessment and rehabilitation directly without a prior telephone contact or appointment:
- The Kalasatama Health and Wellbeing Centre offers services without an appointment (VIA) on weekdays from 8.30–15.30
- Helsinki residents aged 13–23 can visit the Youth Substance Abuse Service Pysäkki without an appointment on weekdays from 9.00–15.00
Waiting times in specialised health care
Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services provide specialised health care in internal medicine, geriatrics, paediatrics, psychiatry, adolescent psychiatry, and child psychiatry. Other specialised care for Helsinki residents is provided by the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS).
Assessment of the need for treatment in specialised care usually occurs within three weeks of receiving a referral, as required by law. Treatment must begin within six months of the assessment (within three months in mental health services for people under 23).
Waiting times
- Number of people waiting for treatment and waiting times in the Helsinki Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services (Link leads to external service) (Report by THL, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finnish)
- Comparison of child and adolescent mental health services (under 23 years of age) across wellbeing services counties (Link leads to external service) (Report by THL, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finnish)
- Information on access to treatment in specialist medical care in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (Link leads to external service) (HUS)
Waiting times for geriatrics and adolescent psychiatry are not yet available, as the data are still being corrected.
Waiting times for access to social services for the elderly
We measure the waiting times for access to social services for the elderly in days and starting from 1 January 2025 publish the data twice a year. Waiting times for January-June are published in July and for July-December in January.
Waiting times for access to social services for the elderly on 30 June 2025
- Individuals aged over 75 can access a service needs assessment within a legally mandated timeframe of under seven days. The average waiting period is four days.
- The waiting period for long-term 24-hour care averages around 36 days, with twelve persons waiting for more than three months. The waiting time is calculated from the initiation of the case to obtaining a place.
- Following a positive decision, home care services can be accessed in less than seven days.
Waiting times for access to social services for the elderly on 31 December 2024
- Individuals aged over 75 can access a service needs assessment within a legally mandated timeframe of under seven days. The average waiting period is three days.
- The waiting period for long-term 24-hour care averages around 26 days, with twelve persons waiting for more than three months.
- Following a positive decision, home care services can be accessed in less than seven days.
Waiting times for access to social services for the elderly on 31 August 2024
- Individuals aged over 75 can access a service needs assessment within a legally mandated timeframe of under seven days. The average waiting period is three days.
- The waiting period for long-term 24-hour care averages around 19 days, with 20 persons waiting for more than three months.
- Following a positive decision, home care services can be accessed in less than seven days.
Client satisfaction in services
We collect client feedback through touch-screen feedback devices at our service locations. Measuring client experience provides us with information on the functionality of our services, and we use the results to develop our operations.
We monitor client experience with the NPS indicator, for example. NPS (Net Promoter Score) describes the likelihood that clients would recommend our services to others. When the result is positive, the service has more promoters than detractors.
The updated graph shows the monthly NPS results at health centres, outpatient clinics for internal diseases, dental clinics and service centres for seniors and the unemployed. The results can be viewed in their entirety or unit-specifically. The graph shows only the results that have accumulated more than 20 responses per month.
In Helsinki, diverse social and health care services are often gathered under one roof. When examining the NPS results, it should be taken into account that the feedback devices are located in the lobby of the units. The results may therefore also describe more extensively the activity on the same floor or in the entire building.
NPS is measured by asking the client: “How likely are you to recommend the service to others?” The answer to the question is on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = highly unlikely and 10 = highly likely.
Based on the responses, the clients are divided into three groups:
- Promoters: clients who answer 9 or 10
- Passives: clients who answer 7 or 8
- Detractors: clients who answer 0–6
NPS is calculated by subtracting the proportion of detractors (%) from the proportion of promoters (%).
The NPS value can be anything from −100 to +100.
Customer Experience in Social and Health Services (NPS)