Every person resident in Sweden is covered by the national health insurance system. The patient fee covers medical care and hospitalisation. The size of the patient fee is set by county councils and may vary depending on the medical service being provided and from county to county.

Doctors

If you need to see a doctor, please contact your “vårdcentral” (primary health care centre). In each district there are one or more primary health care centres with doctors and district nurses. You can also make an appointment with a private practitioner or go to a larger “akutmottagning” (accident and emergency department). Look in the blue pages of the phone book or in Landstingskatalogen (the County Council Directory). Please note that not all private practitioners are affiliated to systems approved by the Försäkringskassa (the Swedish Social Insurance Administration), which means that a visit to these doctors is considerably more expensive than in normal cases.

Hospitals

Referral to a hospital is made by a doctor working in primary health care or in the accident and emergency department.

Dentists

Public dental care can be found at the ”Folktandvården” (Public Dental Service). However, for adults it is just as common to visit a private dentist.
The health insurance system covers most of the costs of hospitalisation and laboratory fees. Maternity care and paediatric care are free of charge.

In an emergency call 112 (valid for the whole country) for the ambulance, fire and police services and for poison information and dentists on call

Edits required applying to New Zealand citizens

Reproduction based on information from the European Communities, information may have been altered to apply to New Zealand citizens.