1. Valvira The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health
Supervision in Finland and Evaluation of Valvira
20th EPSO conference Helsinki, Finland
September 29th, 2015
Petri Huovinen

2. Introduction The Context The Aim of the Evaluation
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health was the prime mover
The ministry chose Owalgroup as supplier for the evaluation process as result of a tender process.
Owalgroup Ltd. is a finnish consulting company. It has executed different kind of evaluations concerning the public sector (e.g. questions of relevance, efficiency and effectiveness)
Time of implementation of the evaluation: 01/2015 – 05/2015
The Aim of the Evaluation
to evaluate how the goals, which were set for Valvira when it was established in 2009, have been achieved
to evaluate the efficiency and effectiviness of Valvira’s functions
to collect suggestions for further development
Petri Huovinen

3. The frame of reference and the methods of the evaluation
Institutional Evaluation
The Methods used
Document analysis
Interviews of most relevant stakeholders
Key members of management
External stakeholders, e.g. key persons from the ministry, Regional State Administrative Agencies, Clients, interest groups, etc.
Two Group Discussions for the Staff Members
Four electronic Surveys for most important Stakeholders
The evaluators got also quite a lot of spontaneous feedback during the evaluation process
Petri Huovinen

4. Main conclusions Streamlining the Administration in Valvira
The trend of development is positive
The departments of Valvira are still relatively independent
The processes, procedures and practices could be more standardized between the departments
One reason behind different operational practices is the legislation, which sets different kind of requirements for substances
The Efficiency of Resource Allocation
The efficiency of support functions has improved
There is not enough flexibility in resource allocation between the departments
Thinking about the whole public sector, it is noteworthy, that the resources of supervision are fragmented to several organisation
Most of the resources are allocated to the Regional State Administrative Agencies
It has a significant impact on flexibility in the use of resources
The processes must be modernized and digitalized to improve the efficiency of resource allocation
Petri Huovinen

5. Main conclusions Focus towards proactiveness in Supervision
This has been clear strategic goal for Valvira for several years - many stakeholders feel that progress is being made
Concrete methods so far
Licencing
Promote self-monitoring as an effective form of supervision
Information guidance
It has been difficult to achieve significant progress towards proactive and risk-based supervision because of the increasing amount of individual cases of ex-post monitoring
Risk assesment is in key role in developing proactive supervision
So far the knowledge base for risk assesment is inadequate and there is also lack of common risk factors / indicators
Equality of the Objects of Supervision
Valvira pays in all its activities attention to equality of citizens and both private and public actors (e.g. licence-holders)
Valvira’s aim is to ensure the harmonisation of guidance, licensing and supervisory practices across Finland
Progress has been made in harmonisation, but the work has not been completed
Petri Huovinen

6. Main conclusions The effectiviness of Valvira
Compared to resources available, fragmented entity of tasks and inadequate knowledge base for supervision, the effectiviness is at a good level
Customers and stakeholders are primarily satisfied with Valvira’s expertise
Cooperation with the Regional State Administrative Agencies
Valvira is tasked with providing guidance to the Regional State Administrative Agencies on all social and health care related matters
In practise this task is quite problematic, because Valvira does not have sufficiently effective tools to control the Regional State Administrative Agencies
Petri Huovinen

7. Main recommendations
The evaluation recommends a revision of the legislation on Valvira
the legislation should allow (better than now) allocation of supervision according to risk assesment and
prioritization of individual cases
The resources and possibilities of Valvira to strengthen the knowledge base of supervision should be improved
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health along with other ministries should strengthen Valvira’s control in relation to the Regional State Administrative Agencies
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health should develop the performance management process and set up structures for genuine dialogue between the experts in Valvira and in the ministry
It should be considered, if the complex entity of Valvira’s tasks could be simplifyed
Efforts to transfer focus towards proactive supervision must be continued
The systematic reform of working methods as part of the Sampo project must be continued
Valvira should set up co-operation structures for genuine dialogue with most important stakeholders
Petri Huovinen

8. EPSO Peer evaluations vs. the evaluation of Valvira
The Scope and Approach
EPSO: 13 key areas that were considered to be standards (based on ISO standards)
Valvira: not publicly expressed standards – some general standards and good practices were utilized
Methods
Both included document analysis, interviews and group discussions
EPSO: samples of work were reviewed
Valvira: electronic surveys
The aim of the evaluation
Valvira: Defined by the Ministry
EPSO: The aim is mostly based on the standards
Petri Huovinen