Home care doctors

The patients of home care doctors are mainly very elderly Helsinki residents. They are either home care clients or people in rehabilitation in the assessment and rehabilitation wards of senior centres. Patients need close, usually daily, help from others.

Due to decreased functional capacity, these patients cannot visit health stations. They have age-related medical conditions and illnesses affecting their ability to function, such as memory disorders. Patients usually use several different medicinal products.

The patients of assessment and rehabilitation wards are people attending further rehabilitation after hospital care or ones who live at home but stay at the wards temporarily for the rehabilitation period.

Home care doctors work closely with nursing staff. Multi-professional care teams also include therapists and social welfare professionals.

The main goal of the doctors’ work is to promote the well-being, health and functional capacity of elderly Helsinki residents by ensuring high-quality medical care for patients.

Home care doctors do not have separate reception rooms. Doctors assess patients’ state of health together with nurses during home visits. When the patient is under regular home care monitoring, the doctor can make treatment decisions based on a nurse’s consultation. Doctors go on clinical rotations in the assessment and rehabilitation wards.

Home care doctors work during office hours. Patients and relatives can contact the doctor by leaving a contact request with the home care team.

Services provided by medical doctors in 24-hour care

In the City of Helsinki units offering long-term 24-hour care, medical services are provided by doctors from medical service companies operating under a framework agreement. Doctors act as attending physicians and are responsible for a patient’s overall care, just like doctors working at health stations.

The doctor visits the units of long-term 24-hour care regularly, at least once a month. On other days, nurses can phone the doctor during office hours. The medical service also includes a weekly telephone consultation, in which the doctor takes care of the patient’s affairs as needed. Nurses can consult an on-call doctor in the evenings and on weekends if necessary.

The doctor for 24-hour care can also be contacted by submitting a call-back request to the patient’s care team.