Treatment in Sweden

Emergency treatment
In the event of an emergency, you can always seek treatment in the area where you are staying.

Primary care
You are entitled to seek primary care treatment (e.g. health centres, doctor’s surgeries) anywhere in the country.

The freedom to choose where you are treatment also applies to regular check-ups, or ongoing treatments, which you may need to undergo during visits to other parts of Sweden, for examples during a holiday, or if you are living temporarily with relatives.

If you are staying in another part of Sweden and you need to undergo a check-up, for example, at a health centre in another county, then contact needs to be made in advance. This is to ensure that a time can be booked for you, bearing in mind the difficult staffing situation in primary care in many locations around the country. So do contact your local health centre in good time before your journey.

Hospital treatment (outpatient and inpatient)
You are entitled to seek outpatient treatment anywhere in the country without a referral from your own county council. For more extensive treatment, for example for treatment that requires you to be admitted to hospital or undergo an operation, your treatment requirements need to be established. This means that you must have a referral, or be placed on a waiting list for inpatient treatment in your own county. You can get such a referral from a GP or from another specialist doctor.

The Psychiatric Centre is an exception, as it always issues referrals for psychotherapy. In the event of long-term habilitation treatment, and in relation to most technical aids for various disabilities, it is the Habilitation and Assistive Technology Service that issues referrals.

Highly specialised treatment
Highly specialised treatment is not included under the patient’s freedom to choose where they receive treatment. Highly specialised treatment includes, for example, cancer treatment, heart operations, transplants etc. You must always have a special treatment referral in order to receive highly specialised treatment in another county.