The key differences between the parties ’regional election promises relate to how they dare to talk about money.
Finland the first regional elections will be held on 23 January.
The regional councils elected in the regional elections will decide how social and health services will be organized in the future. Municipal social services and rescue services will move to larger welfare areas in 2023.
Their decision-making power also includes the provision of care services for the elderly. HS visited in November for three days at the Attendo nursing home in Lahti, following the nursing work and participating in the daily lives of the elderly with memory.
Read more: When the memory has left a person, everyday life becomes strange – A journalist and a photographer followed the life of a nursing home for three days
For this purpose, the parties were asked about solutions to the problems of health and care services. The three questions put to the parties concerned the involvement of community caregivers and staff sizing in care work for the elderly. The answers to the questions were given by the party secretaries of the parties.
In nursing care, many caregivers leave the industry. What are the means for regional councilors to keep good caretakers in the sector?
The parties the responses do not show sharp line differences in how the care sector’s holding power should be increased. Repeated promises through the party field to improve the management and organization of work and well-being at work in the care sector, for which action programs should be drawn up in the regional council.
The well-being of Sote personnel at work must be “strongly reflected” in the new strategies for welfare areas, says the center.
The SDP and the Greens would give sote staff more say in shift planning. The Christian Democrats would set up “permanent substitute pools” to ensure the availability of labor in the welfare state.
Money matters there are differences in the audacity of electoral speeches.
According to the SDP, welfare areas “must ensure” that resources are sufficient for the number of staff in accordance with staffing requirements.
Funding for welfare areas comes in advance from the state. The SDP does not comment on how the regional councils would react if resources prove to be scarce – in other words, whether the state should automatically give the regions more money if they want to invest more in services.
The basic Finns, on the other hand, state that the shortage of labor in the sector will be solved by increasing public resources. The answer does not indicate how resources would be increased in the regional council.
Multi the party would improve carers ’pay and working conditions. Salary levels would be raised by the Christian Democrats, the Movement Now, the RKP and the Left Alliance.
According to the Coalition Party, the sector should “invest in the incentive system of the remuneration system”.
In connection with the social security reform, the government is pushing for wage harmonization, in which the wages of employees moving to new welfare areas will be harmonized.
From the beginning of 2022, the staff dimensioning for round-the-clock care for the elderly will be 0.6 and 0.7 in 2023. Even the current dimensioning will not be implemented in some care homes. How can the implementation of the law be possible?
Nurse sizing the changes are expected to receive criticism from the opposition.
According to the Coalition Party, future blackmail will put the field “in front of an almost impossible task” and, at worst, lead to the closure of care homes. According to the party, the timetable for change is too tight. The business would now completely cancel the increase in caregiver sizing.
The Christian Democrats and the Basic Finns emphasize that the government must secure funding for the implementation of the caretaker dimension.
According to the Center, the government has already done a lot to improve the availability of SOTE personnel, such as increasing the number of places to start training in the SOTE sector. According to the Left Alliance, training needs to be further increased.
All government parties see labor migration as a partial solution to achieving caregiver sizing.
At the same time, according to the Center, the qualification of foreign experts in Finnish job titles must be improved.
According to basic Finns, employing immigrants in the care sector does not alleviate labor shortages, as nurses with a foreign background often lack language skills. The party also suspects that the “sensitivity” of foreign caregivers is not enough to care for the elderly in Finland.
Should the pay of community caregivers be raised to make the sector more attractive?
Coalition and the Center do not take a position, as the discussion on pay levels and working conditions is primarily between the social partners.
Labor market organizations have called for politicians not to interfere in wage increases or labor market negotiations at all.
Read more: Many parties are pushing for higher wages in the care sector in the election – Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities: “Such things belong to the labor market tables”
A few parties implicitly suggest they are in favor of a pay rise. According to basic Finns, society must give a “strong signal” that the work of caregivers is valuable. More resources should also be directed to well-being at work.
The attractiveness of the sector and the adequacy of staff would be difficult to take care of without a wage increase in the care sector, say Christian Democrats. According to the SDP, the sector needs a “comprehensive remuneration plan” in the longer term in order for the sector to remain attractive.
The Greens would gradually raise the pay for nursing work to a level commensurate with its demands.
The Left Alliance and the Movement are now responding that the pay levels for community caregivers should be raised.
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