Social Security Minister Karoliina Partanen plans to make the choice-of-provider trial for people aged 65 and over permanent, even though uptake has been weak. Svenska Yle reports that only about one tenth of the expected number of older people has used the private-doctor scheme.

The trial has been part of a wider debate about how services for older people should be organised and how private healthcare can complement the public system. Partanen’s move suggests the government does not see low usage alone as a reason to end the model.