Few Finns believe Sote to improve access to healthcare

Only 6 per cent of the Finns believe the health and social care reform ­(Sote) reform will improve access to health and social care services, found a survey conducted by the weekly Maaseudun Tulevaisuus.

On the other hand, 28 per cent of the respondents fear that the access to those services will actually deteriorate.

Thirty-one per cent of the respondents believe that access to health and social care will remain the same.

Most of the respondents who fear that access to health and social care would weaken live outside the major cities. Residents of rural areas are more certain about their views than dwellers in urban areas.

Of the respondents, 44 per cent believe that the opening the sector to competition will actually weaken health services, while 27 per cent believe that it improves health services.

The survey was conducted by Kantar TNS Agri and saw the participation of 1,072 Finns. The margin of error was +/- 3 per cent.