The Finnish Health Care System

This picture shows me at the worst phase of my health life in Finland when I suffered heart failure, underwent triple by pass surgery and changed my lifestyle, some for the better and some for the worse.

Maybe this short introduction will help some of you when health crisis looms!

Those of you who are relatively new to Finland should understand the good and the bad of the Finnish health care system. Those who work with companies, such as Nokia, or have private insurance, should also take care to understand the pros and cons of the Finnish system.

If you have come from India, when you walk into a good clinic there, an experienced doctor can literally diagnose you as you walk into the room. An Indian doctor handles about 60 times more patients in the same time span as a Finnish doctor. The Indian doctor is also not hampered by taboos associated with accepting traditional medicines.

When our younger daughter was studying medicine in Newcastle, she went to do her internship in a hospital on the outskirts of Chennai. Her experience was so enlightening, at the young age of 50 she is Dean of a hospital today,  not only because she is brilliant but because of the practical experience she obtained during her internship. 

We have outlined her history in our blog entry "Proud Parents".

She did her Master's in English Philology from Oulu University, had a great job in Nokia, taught in the Open University in Oulu and then decided she wanted to take up her calling as a doctor. 

She joined Newcastle University in UK, and while raising three small children as a single mother, qualified as a doctor, headed the anatomy department in the hospital and is now the Dean of the Newcastle University associated teaching hospital in Malaysia in Johor, about 20 km from Singapore.

Coming back to the subject of medical treatment in Finland, if you walk into a Finnish hospital you are first greeted at an information counter, given a token to see a nurse, which sometimes may take half an hour or more.  The nurse will want to know sympyoms you have and she will decide what tests need to be done. That may take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.  Only after the results are obtained will she refer you the doctor. That process may take from half an hour to four or more hours!

Annikki and I once took Annikki’s 82 year old mother one evening to the outpatient department in the Oulu University Hospital. The poor lady had to sit there for eight hours, with no nourishment, before she was seen by the  doctor to get a prescription of a painkiller!

In another instance, I developed a rash and I decided to consult a doctior at the Oulu City Hospital. Annikki told me not to waste my time as she knew what it was. I persisted and went to the hospital to go through this long procedure before the tests were done. The doctor studied the results before he proclaimed that I had a version of chicken pox. Annikki had seen this through bringing up our four kids, so her diagnosis was 100% correct. Did she laugh!!!

I remember two cases of Indian IT engineers who stayed in our Oulu  apartments, I took them to the hospital suffering severe intestinal symptoms. After hours of waiting, experiencing excruciating pain, with me holding their hands, they were sent home with a prescription of painkillers. 

In one case I had to rush the engineer (as Rakesh Rawat will confirm from Apple Inc. in Cupertino)  to hospital  the next day, and his wife, Dipti and their daughter had to come home to be looked after by Annikki. Poor Rakesh had severe complications and had needed immediate urgent care.

Another case was of Nainala Srinivas who called me to lunch at his apartment in India House and while making pudina chutney for me sliced off part of his finger. I had to rush him to hospital and undergo the same lengthy process  while he was in sheer agony! Poor fellow was crying on my shoulder.'

So do not be fobbed off by any doctor in an outpatient Department. Question the diagnosis as otherwise it may be too late as "Uncle (now Grandpa) Jacob" now with his one leg will not be around to take you back to be attended to! :-) 

This is not to say that quality of the senior doctors is not the best. My life was saved because of the rapid response to do the bypass surgery. 

But that is another story. 

Annikki and I, because of our lifestyle never had occasion to visit the hospitals in Finland for over 30 years except for mandatory tests. 

On every visit to India we used to do the Executive Health check up at one of the good hospitals as Apollo. This prevention is better than cure philosophy was great. Also on our regular visits to India  Annikki would bring back essential health aids, such as Electral, pain plasters and simple important non prescription medicines, so that we did not even have to visit a local pharmacy.  

Annikki was also a great one for reading books on health which made our life style a healthy one. I knew I had a high sugar problem, but exercise and good food kept it in check.

In 2016 I developed a small fat lump on my back. The doctor suggested lancing it. The minor operation was done. I was given an antibiotic as a post operative treatment. 

By evening I developed a intensive body rash requiring me to go the hospital. I was taken off the antibiotic immediately, but the damage had been done. 

My entire immune system was thrown out of gear. I soon suffered heart failure and had to be taken to hospital for bypass surgery. Water had collected in my lungs virtually drowning me and I was unable to breathe. That had to be syringed out. I was minutes from death but God knew I had a purpose still on this earth and he gave me the best medical treatment possible in Oulu University Hospital. The doctors and nurses were simply superb.

My underlying Type 2 diabetes surfaced and my eyesight started to fail. I was officially declared a diabetic.

I developed gangarine in one toe of my left foot and that was cured by great care by the wound department of the Oulu City Hospital.

While that was happening they decided to do angioplasty on my legs. On my left leg they did it to the foot but on the other, from where they had removed the vein for my bypass surgery, they stopped at the knee.

I developed gangarine on my right big toe, which then required amputation. Then other toes started to show signs of gangarine.

I lost all of them, and then half my right foot. The situation got worse till last June, 2022, when the decided they would amputate my right leg. I asked them to discuss with my daughter, who studied the results and told them to only amputate to below the knee. And that is the situation today. I may still try to climb Everest as my mentor is that Nepali who climbed it with both his legs amputated.

In the process I went through great hospital care and some pathetic nursing as well. The lack of attention in one instance resulted in 4 litres of urine collecting in my system. If I had not been a heavy drinker in my early life (I have been a teatotaller for 44 years now), I would have exploded. I survived but my kidneys were severely affected. The urologists gave uo one me but I followed the old wives tale remedies of my mother and regenerated all the functions again and got back control.

Again, when I went for my major amputation, they gave me a spinal anaesthetic which again threw my kidneys to the winds. Again the urologists gave up on me, but excellent ayurvedic care from Dehra Dun and the old wives remedies have put me back again to normalcy.

Recently, when Annikki had a burst appendix, the rapid respose was so quick, that her life was saved by the doctors and care in Oulu University Hospital.

Annikki because of the severe stress she went through has developed dementia, something which is heridetary. Today with one leg, an electric wheelchair, a walker, and excellent support from the Finnish health care system, at the tender ages of 79 and 80, we are even looking after young Indian students who arrive in Oulu, teaching them how to orient to life in Finland till they get acclimatisation and accommodation from PSOAS.

Our advice to all of those who come from abroad to Finland, please consult those who have experience with the system in Finland. 

Let not the blind lead the blind. 

Over our 40 years in Finland, we have helped many Indians through their difficulties.

One more word of warning. It is a punishable offence to bring in medicines to Finland from outside the EU. Only a limited amount for self use with a doctor’s prescription is permitted. Not only will the drugs be confiscated but you will face prosecution. 

Many of you may laugh at that as many believe Finnish law will be flexible to your whims. I can assure you that it is not so and as I have found that they are severely harsh on foreigners. 

In Finland there is a need for responsibility. If you disregard the law, you are liable!

Many of you should take note of this advice as we point out in one our earlier blog entries!

Findians

Most pleasantly surprised

Yesterday, I visited an Indian software engineer who has not been very long in Finland, maybe a month and a half. Along came his friend who lives next door.

I was most pleasantly surprised to hear the conversation between them.

One told the other that eggs were only € 0.49 in one shop, but that when he went there, he did not find it. Then the other responded that tomatoes were just € 0.89 in another shop.

I asked them where they had got the information. They brought out a copy of the twice a week newspaper, FORUM, and they pointed to two advertisements, both from K-Sopermarket.

The information they had had gleaned was partially correct, but the niceties of their finds were missing because of their lack of knowledge of Finnish.

The two shops were differen. The dates on which these special offers were also restricted. There was also a restriction on the number of packets of eggs that could be bought at this price.

But it was a real eye opener to me that the guys had actually bothered to go through the newspaper.

Considering how I started the "Survival" system in 1984, I was really happy to see our cost conscious Indian software engineers using this approach.

Wish I could give a copy of the "Handbook for Survival" to each person who arrives. Sadly, it is out of date, having been published in 1994. Also, one has to have the energy to go through the entire printing and publishing process again.

Tragedy of the Tsunami - Our deepest concerns

An Open Letter

Dear President & Prime Minister of India,

My wife and I share with you and all the people of the region the grief that is in many homes, and among the many homeless, these days, as the effect of the Tsunami tragedy unfolds here on an hour by hour basis.

Today, we, in Finland, also mourn around 263 of this countries nationals who appear to have been engulfed in this horrific wave. To see over 120,000 people of the world die in this tragedy and many millions more in dire situations, breaks our heart, mainly as we realise our helplessness.

It appears that none of our immediate family was lost in this event. But many dear friends still appear unaccounted for. We hope and pray that they are safe and well.

What concerns us more, however, is the news that India would be joining with the US Government in organising the relief efforts in the region. That is of greatest worry to us.

As you are aware the US Government has been part of an “illegal” war in Iraq where many hundred thousand people are being done to death, even as we write this to you.

No less a person than the most respected Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, has declared that the war on Iraq is illegal.

Also, in a effort to control the region, the US Administration have wiped out the indigenous law and industry in Iraq, and also given numerous no-bid contracts to their favoured companies, such as Bechtel, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, to name just a few.

The rape of a tortured nation continues despite the human tragedy of that region.

For the Indian Government to be associated with a criminal Administration in such a massive relief operation associated with the Tsunami, would cast the Indian Government in the eyes of the world in a very bad light.

May we urge you that the original stance taken by your Government that the Indian Relief effort could and would be managed by itself without any association with outside Governments, would be upheld.

May we bring to your attention that the US Administration is very anxious to get information about the strategic defence organisation in the crucial Vishakapatnam - Port Blair axis, and any relief effort with the involvement of the US Administration will be to compromise the defence capabilities of your and our nation.

We all know that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice, and many others in the US Administration, past and to be installed, have provided false statements in many public fora, including the UN.

It is our greatest concern that you will safe-guard the Indian nation from playing into the hands of this neo-con right wing Christian religious fundamentalist group whose only objective appears to be to establish their foothold, by means fair and foul, in the South Asia region.

Being Christians ourselves, with the family traditions of the late doyens of Kerala, K. C. Mammen Mappillai and Dewan Bahadur Kuriyan Matthan of Mysore, and Padma Bushans, the late K. M. Cherian, K. M. Philip and K. M. Mathew, and Padma Shri the late K. M. Mammen Mappillai, makes this even more nauseating as this American Christian fundamentalist group only poses to be Christian as they further their personal agenda.

May we repeat our deepest condolences to all the people of India who have been affected by this tragedy.

As the old year ends and the New Year dawns, we hope that the region will be blessed with peace and calm as it rebuilds itself from this horrific calamity.


Yours sincerely

Annikki and Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland