New information on access to care is obtained monthly.
Data on access to care is updated regularly in THL’s database reports. You can view this information in the summary and cube services and choose different views. Please note that regularly updated data has not yet been fully verified, and the figures may be revised later.
| Wellbeing service county | May, 2026 |
|---|---|
| North Karelia | 12,9 |
| HUS | 7,1 |
| Ostrobothnia | 6,9 |
| Central Finland | 6,4 |
| Pirkanmaa | 5,6 |
| Whole Country | 4,3 |
| Lapland | 4,1 |
| North Savo | 3,9 |
| Kymenlaakso | 3,2 |
| South Karelia | 3,2 |
| Helsinki | 3,0 |
| South Ostrobothnia | 2,8 |
| Satakunta | 2,5 |
| South Savo | 2,2 |
| North Ostrobothnia | 1,3 |
| Central Ostrobothnia | 0,8 |
| Southwest Finland | 0,6 |
| Kainuu | 0,0 |
| Päijät-Häme | 0,0 |
Access to specialised health care waiting times decreased in 2025
At the end of 2025, more than 140,000 patients were waiting for access to non-urgent specialised health care. During 2025, the number of those waiting for access to non-urgent specialised health care decreased by nearly 8,000.
During 2025, the number of those waiting varied monthly. During the summer months, the number of those waiting increased and decreased towards the end of the year.
The number of those who had waited over half a year for specialised health care decreased in 2025
At the beginning of 2025, at the national level, 14.7 per cent of all those in the care queue had waited over 180 days. At the end of the year, 12.7 per cent had waited over 180 days.
Nearly 1.4 million referrals were processed in 2025. The number of processed referrals remained at the level of previous years.
The largest numbers of those waiting in 2025 were for cataract surgery and hip or knee replacement surgery
At the end of 2025, a total of 16,258 patients were waiting for cataract surgery. The number of those waiting for surgery increased by approximately 3,000 persons during the year.
In 2025, 19.6 per cent of all those waiting for cataract surgery had waited over half a year. The highest proportions of those waiting over half a year were in the wellbeing services counties of North Karelia (47.1%) and Central Finland (40.1%). In the wellbeing services counties of South Karelia, South Ostrobothnia and South Savo, all those waiting for cataract surgery were treated within less than half a year.
At the end of 2025, a total of 10,374 persons were waiting for knee or hip replacement surgery. The number of those waiting for surgery decreased during 2025 by just under 1,000 persons. There was no significant change in 2025 in the number of those who had waited over half a year; on average, 24 per cent of all those waiting had waited over half a year. The highest proportion of those waiting over half a year was in the wellbeing services county of North Karelia (72.3%). The wellbeing services counties of South Karelia and Central Ostrobothnia were able to treat all those waiting for knee or hip replacement surgery within less than half a year.
The number of those waiting over three months for children’s and young people’s mental health services decreased
The situation of those waiting for children’s and young people’s mental health services (under 23 years of age) improved slightly during 2025. In January 2025, at the national level, 1,337 persons under 23 years of age were waiting for mental health services, of which 27 per cent had waited over 90 days. In December 2025, there were 1,303 persons waiting, of which 18 per cent had waited over 90 days.
During 2025, the number of those waiting over 90 days for children’s and young people’s mental health services decreased by 190 patients.
There are significant differences between wellbeing services counties in the waiting times of those under 23 years of age waiting for mental health services. The longest waiting times were in North Savo and North Karelia. However, in several wellbeing services counties the queues were short.
The number of those waiting for assessment of need for care was increasing in 2025
Assessment of need for care as a reason for waiting increased towards the end of the year, as it has in several consecutive years. At the national level, assessment of need for care as a reason for waiting increased in 2025 by nearly 6,000 patients.
The increase in assessment of need for care as a reason for waiting also indicates that, based on the information provided by the referral alone, it has not been possible to place patients directly on the waiting list for care, but additional examinations have been required to support the treatment decision.
The implementation of assessment of need for care is interpreted in different ways, and data on those waiting for assessment of need for care are reported differently in different wellbeing services counties. In some areas, assessment of need for care is not yet used at all, and patients are placed directly on the waiting list for care, as in the wellbeing services county of Central Ostrobothnia.
Recording practices and guidance for assessment of need for care have been harmonised at the national level, and the work is ongoing. Guidelines for assessment of need for care and access to care are being reviewed and updated in cooperation with wellbeing services counties.
Maximum waiting times for access to specialised health care in 2025
In 2025, the maximum waiting times for access to specialised health care remained the same as in previous years. The maximum waiting times are based on the Health Care Act.
Access to specialised health care for non-urgent care requires a referral based on an examination by a physician or dentist.
Assessment of need for care must be initiated within three weeks from the date when the referral has arrived at the specialised health care unit of the wellbeing services county or another unit providing specialised health care.If the assessment of need for care requires an evaluation by a specialist physician or special imaging or laboratory examinations, the assessment and the necessary examinations must be carried out within three months from the date when the referral has arrived.
Based on the assessment of need for care, necessary treatment and counselling must be arranged and initiated within six months from the date when the need for care has been established, taking into account the urgency required by the treatment.
In urgent cases, however, access to care must be provided immediately.
Service providers, i.e. wellbeing services counties, Helsinki and HUS, were obliged to submit data on access to care to THL.
Service providers have an obligation defined in the Health Care Act to publish the access to care data compiled by THL. Service providers may publish data on the realisation of maximum waiting times of their own organisations on their websites by linking to THL reports.
About the data in more detail
Information in the specialised health care access database reports (summaries and cubes) is reported for non‑urgent care events whose data has been submitted to the specialised health care access register.
The numerical data is unverified, meaning it has not undergone expert review.
Through the database reports, access‑to‑care information can be examined by wellbeing services county, by medical specialty, or by queue group. The access‑to‑care database reports include indicators that allow users to view data according to how long patients have waited.
- A summary is a pre‑compiled overview of information on the fulfilment of a specific maximum waiting time. Summaries present the key access‑to‑care monitoring data as clear visualisations. They make it possible to compare providers and medical specialties, as well as to follow regional and national developments.
- A cube is a table containing information on the fulfilment of a specific maximum waiting time. Compared to summaries, cubes allow the user to apply a wider range of filters. Cubes include all national data on access to specialised health care.
- A statistical report is an annual compilation of the key data on primary health care outpatient services, presented in text, figures, and tables. The coverage and quality of the data are assessed in the quality report accompanying the statistical report.
Summaries
- Comparison of wellbeing services counties in mental health services for people under 23 (in Finnish)
- Comparison of wellbeing services counties by medical specialty (in Finnish)
- Comparison of wellbeing services counties by queue group (in Finnish)
- Distribution by medical specialtyQueue groups (in Finnish)
- Time series of access to specialised health care (in Finnish)
Cubes
- Patients waiting for treatment and assessment of the need for care by medical specialty (in Finnish)
- Patients waiting for a procedure and waiting times by queue group (in Finnish)
- Children and young people under 23 waiting for psychiatric treatment and assessment of the need for care (in Finnish)
- Referrals by medical specialty (in Finnish)
Statistical report
Read the entire statistical report (Julkari)
Reporting services
Background information
- Statistical quality report
- Data description (Data resources catalogue)
- Instructions for submitting data (in Finnish)
Source
Access to specialised health care 2025
Statistical report 21/2026, 03.06.2026.
Official Statistics of Finland, Access to specialised health care. THL.
Description of the statistics
The statistics include information on whether visits related to access to non‑urgent specialised health care have taken place within the maximum time limits defined in the Health Care Act. Since 2021, data on access to specialised health care have been collected once a month.
The statistics separately show those waiting for an assessment of the need for treatment and those waiting for treatment. In addition, the statistics track, separately, those under the age of 23 waiting for mental health services as well as those waiting for 27 different procedures.
Update schedule
You can find up‑to‑date information on the realisation of access to care in the database reports. The data are updated monthly after the 15th.
The annual statistical report on the previous year’s realisation of access to care is usually published by early summer.
A more precise publication date will be updated in the publication calendar.
Statistics publication calendar
Contact details
Statistics officers:
Pia Paasela and Jari Hartzell
Contacts: [email protected]