Healthcare services – where to turn
Services provided by the National Board of Health and Welfare
Apply for a Swedish license to practice
If you want to work as a healthcare practitioner, you may need to obtain a licence. The prerequisites for obtaining a licence vary according to where you were educated.
E-service to apply for a license
Apply for authority to perform certain duties in the social services
If you are qualified as a social worker or equivalent outside Sweden and are to work in the social services’ care services for children and young people, in certain cases you will need to apply for authority with us. This applies to those who are to work with
- assessment of whether to initiate an investigation
- investigation and assessment of the need for measures or other measures
- follow-up on agreed measures.
To be able to work with this, your qualification needs to be comparable with the Swedish social worker qualification.
Apply for authority to perform certain duties in the social services
Apply for gender recognition
The Legal Council of the National Board of Health and Welfare is an independent legal body with its own right to make decisions. It benefits from the administrative support of the Board but is otherwise legally independent from the work of the Board. The Legal Council is responsible for decisions when it comes to certain issues, like the right to late-term abortion, sterilisation, insemination or recognising a changed gender. The Council is also responsible for official requests of medical and psychiatric evaluations to the Swedish courts or to other agencies.
To contact the secretariat of the Legal Council, send an e-mail to rattsligaradet@socialstyrelsen.se or phone +46 (0)75-247 30 00.
Check a practitioner’s license
If you want to check if a healthcare professional is licensed to practice, send an e-mail to HOSP@socialstyrelsen.se and specify the practitioner’s first name and surname.
Information about surrogacy
Surrogacy is not regulated in Sweden and there is no distinct prohibition against it. However, according to Swedish law, a person giving birth to a child is always considered the child’s legal parent. Consult your caregiver or a legal expert to learn more about surrogacy in a Swedish legal context.
Other issues related to healthcare and social services
You can contact us if you have questions regarding other issues related to healthcare or social services.
Visits: Rålambsvägen 3 or Gjörwellsgatan 30 (weekdays 08.00-17.00)
Phone: +46 (0)75 247 30 00 (weekdays 08.00-17.00)
E-mail: socialstyrelsen@socialstyrelsen.se
Healthcare and social services provided by others
Contact healthcare providers
The healthcare guide 1177.se is Sweden's national hub for advice, information, inspiration and e-services for health and healthcare. You can read about diseases, treatments, rules and rights. Here, you can also find and compare health clinics and patient fees and use e-services to contact the healthcare services, request, cancel, or reschedule appointments or refill prescriptions. All of the content on the healthcare guide 1177 is quality assured together with experts from healthcare throughout Sweden.
Seek medical care outside of Sweden using Swedish social security insurance
The Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) is responsible for deciding on, and making payments for, a large part of the benefits in the Swedish Social Security Insurance system. The social insurance system covers almost all residents and employees in Sweden and is an important part of the welfare system, not only for individuals but also for households and companies.
Make a complaint or report irregularities in healthcare and social services
Healthcare and social services
If you want to make a complaint about the healthcare you have received, you should first of all contact the healthcare provider in question. All healthcare providers are personally responsible for achieving compliance with patient safety regulations and for monitoring their own work.
The Health and Social Care Inspectorate (Inspektionen för vård och omsorg) is a government agency responsible for supervising healthcare and social care, healthcare and social care staff, social services and activities in accordance with the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS).The authority is also responsible for certain permit applications. They also monitor healthcare activities and professionals to ensure that they comply with applicable laws and regulations.
You cannot file an appeal in court against the healthcare services – except under special circumstances, e.g. if you request access to your own medical records.
Patients' Advisory Committees are established in every region, municipality or local authority. The Advisory Committee is made up of politicians and officials. You can contact the Patients’ Advisory Committee where you receive healthcare if you want to make a comment or complaint relating to your treatment, patient fees, diagnosis or medication. The Patients’ Advisory Committee has no disciplinary powers but can provide you with information and advice on what to do next. Many county councils, municipalities and local authorities also offer the services of a patient ombudsman who can give you advice and refer you to the correct authority.
Ask your healthcare provider for the contact details of the Patients’ Advisory Committee or contact your county council, municipality or local authority directly. For more information see the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions.
Dental care
If you are dissatisfied with the dental care provided by a private dentist who is a member of the Association for Private Dental Care Providers in Sweden, you can lodge your complaint with one of the Regional Ethics Committees of the Association for Private Dental Care Providers in Sweden. These Committees are appointed to settle disputes between patients and dental care providers.
The Association for Private Dental Care Providers’ Information Services
Pharmaceuticals, medicinal products and herbal remedies
The Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket) is a national authority responsible for the regulation and monitoring of pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies in addition to other medicinal products. You can contact the Medical Products Agency if you have a complaint about a pharmaceutical product.
Discrimination
If you feel that you are subject to discrimination from the healthcare services on the basis of gender, gender identity, gender expression, ethnic origin, religion or other beliefs, sexual orientation, disability or age, you can report this to the Equality Ombudsman (Diskrimineringsombudsmannen, DO). The Equality Ombudsman can pursue a complaint through court or reach a settlement between the claimant and defendant. For more information and contact details, see the Equality Ombudsman.
Apply for compensation for injuries
The Swedish Pharmaceutical Insurance (Svenska Läkemedelsförsäkringen AB) covers anyone who is treated with prescribed medication or medication purchased from a legitimate dealer in Sweden. It also includes patients who receive medication at a hospital, or who suffer adverse reactions or side effects due to participation in clinical trials that are covered by the insurance.
The Mutual Insurance Company of the Regions (Landstingens Ömsesidiga Försäkringsbolag) is a nationwide Swedish insurance company whose main task is to insure publicly financed health care providers. Their final customers are patients who have suffered an avoidable injury caused by health care. The company evaluates and give financial compensation to patients injured in health care.
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