51 per cent of the binding operation objectives were achieved. The prolongation of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the achievement of the objectives of the Education Division and the Social Services and Health Care Division in particular.

The number of employees in the services of open child welfare is at its statutory level, but due to the increased challenges families face, all needs cannot always be addressed. Furthermore, child welfare has open vacancies for social workers, but the vacancies remain uncovered.

Home care and service housing have introduced a guidebook for emergency situations and the mobile nurse service, but they are not utilised to their full potential. Closer cooperation should be established when discharging patients from hospital.

The city has strived to promote mental health rehabilitees’ access to housing services by turning the Aurora Hospital’s wards of rehabilitative psychiatry into housing units and by increasing the service selection of housing services in the competitive tendering of purchased services. However, the number of people on the waiting list for housing services has not decreased.

Efforts have been made to develop home care in the last few years, but most of the objectives have not been achieved. Home care’s most prominent issue is the shortage of personnel. Linguistic equality is not realised due to the lack of Swedish-speaking nursing personnel.

The Social Services and Health Care Division has developed the treatment of people with substance abuse problems and harm reduction services and lowered the threshold for access to services. Cooperation with other operators, particularly child welfare services, needs to be developed.

Child Welfare is having challenges in meeting the increased need for foster care with family care and special and demanding institutional care.

The quality control of the 24-hour care of the elderly can be considered to be satisfactory in the City’s own service provision and sufficient in purchased services.

The family centre model has increased cooperation between different professionals according to the objectives. Family centre work is just beginning in several areas of Helsinki, and there are still needs for development.