The health care guarantee – law as from first of July 2010
On 1 July 2010 the Health Care Guarantee in Sweden changed from being an agreement between the State and the County Councils and became a law. This means a great strengthening of your rights as a patient.
What does the Health Care Guarantee mean?
Waiting times
- You must be offered an appointment with your doctor within primary health care within 7 days
- You must be offered an appointment with a specialist within 90 days
- You must be offered treatment within 90 days
What are the obligations of your County Council?
- If your own County Council cannot offer treatment within 90 days from the time when the decision was taken that treatment is necessary, the County Council is obliged to help the patient to be given treatment by another County Council within the guaranteed period.
- The County Council must respect the patient’s self-determination and as far as possible consult with the patient.
- Great importance is to be attached to the patient’s wishes regarding a health care provider.
Health care’s duty to inform
- If it is assessed that the County Council will not be able to provide health care in accordance with the time limits stated above, the patient must be informed about this and about the measures that the County Council intends to take, amongst other things how it will meet its obligations to see to it that the patient can be given care by another health care provider.
- This information must be given as soon as it becomes clear that the Health Care Guarantee cannot be met and not when the 90 days have passed.
- The obligation to give information applies during the entire health care process, that is to say not only at the time of the first contact with the patient.