Senior psychiatrists at Helsinki University Hospital, HUS, have resigned as the hospital group prepares to reorganise the management of psychiatric services in eastern and central Uusimaa, raising concerns about staffing and the continuity of operations at a time when Finland already faces a shortage of specialist psychiatrists.
The resignations are expected to take effect in October, according to an internal HUS notice obtained by Yle. The document said the planned changes to the management structure had caused concern among staff and that doctors held differing views about the consequences of the restructuring.
The departures include senior doctors working in HUS psychiatric services in eastern and central Uusimaa. Helsingin Sanomat reported that five senior psychiatrists at Hyvinkaa Hospital had resigned, based on information obtained by the newspaper. HUS Psychiatry Director and Chief Physician Jesper Ekelund did not confirm the number to the newspaper, but acknowledged that losing several senior doctors from a relatively small unit at the same time would create operational difficulties.
“We have agreed on how operations will continue during the autumn,” Ekelund told Helsingin Sanomat.
HUS plans to temporarily bring psychiatrists from other parts of the organisation to cover vacancies while it searches for replacements. Ekelund said patients receiving treatment at Hyvinkaa Hospital should not experience interruptions as a result of the departures.
The resignations come ahead of a broader restructuring of psychiatric services planned for the beginning of 2027. Under the proposed model, HUS would move away from its current combination of geographical, diagnosis-based and other organisational divisions and introduce five service lines based primarily on functions.
The proposed changes were discussed with doctors at a meeting in early September involving Ekelund and another senior HUS official. According to the internal notice obtained by Yle, participants expressed “very different views” about the effects of the planned restructuring. Several senior doctors working in eastern and central Uusimaa reportedly announced at the end of the meeting that they intended to leave HUS.
Ekelund has rejected the suggestion that the meeting itself directly triggered the resignations. He told Yle that the doctors had already considered their decisions before the meeting and described the departures as individual decisions by employees.
One doctor contacted by Yle confirmed resigning and cited personal reasons. Other doctors approached by the broadcaster did not confirm or deny whether they had submitted their resignations.
The restructuring is intended to change the way psychiatric services are managed rather than relocate jobs or treatment units, according to Ekelund. HUS has said that clinical care will continue under the new organisational structure.
For staff, however, the immediate concern is how the restructuring will work alongside existing staffing pressures. Helsingin Sanomat reported concerns about workloads and the possible effect of both the organisational changes and the loss of senior doctors on psychiatric units.
Ekelund acknowledged that the departure of experienced senior physicians can create a serious challenge for a unit. “If key senior physicians are not working in a unit, its operations are of course under threat,” he told Yle.
The staffing situation is already difficult across HUS. According to Ekelund, 47 psychiatrist positions are currently vacant among more than 300 psychiatrist posts across the hospital group. Finding replacements for doctors who leave will therefore take place against an existing shortage rather than from a position of surplus capacity.
The problem is not limited to HUS. Specialist psychiatrists are in short supply across Finland, making recruitment a wider challenge for public healthcare services.
Hyvinkaa Hospital is particularly significant in the regional healthcare network because it is a major hospital outside the Helsinki metropolitan area and provides emergency services around the clock. HUS says psychiatrists from other units will support the hospital during the autumn while recruitment efforts continue.
The immediate response is intended to keep services running while HUS manages the vacancies and moves towards the planned 2027 structure. But the resignations have added a further staffing challenge to a restructuring that is already being closely watched by psychiatric staff in eastern and central Uusimaa.
