Complaints About Health and Care Services

Patients, users, and relatives.

Melding til Statsforvalteren
Varsel om alvorlig hendelse

Read about the right to necessary healthcare in pasient- og brukerrettighetsloven §§ 2-1a og 2-1b.
Read about the procedures for handling complaints in pasient- og brukerrettighetsloven §§ 7-4 og 7-4a.
Read about the right to file complaints or notifications in pasient- og brukerrettighetsloven § 7-6.

Spesialisthelsetjenesteloven
Helse- og omsorgstjenesteloven
Pasient- og brukerrettighetsloven
Psykisk helsevernloven

How to complain directly to the service provider
The primary recommendation is to address undesirable incidents directly with the service provider or their supervisors. All services should have procedures for this. Complaints can be made either verbally or in writing.

How to submit a complaint to the County Governor

• It is recommended to use the Notification to the County Governor digital form for submitting complaints. This is a secure solution, meaning you can use it to submit sensitive information, including health-related details. Since it is a secure platform, you must log in via ID-porten. The form also allows you to upload larger attachments if you have written your complaint in a document. Simply upload the document within the form.
• The County Governor also accepts complaints via regular mail.
• Complaints can be made by phone, but it is strongly recommended to submit a written complaint if possible.

How to report an incident to the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision

• Reports should be submitted via this reporting service.
• You can also call the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision at 474 86 882 (available from 09:00 to 15:00).

Complaint handling in the municipality
If you file a complaint with the municipality about a decision, such as the rejection of an application for care assistance, the complaint will first be reviewed by the body that made the decision. This body, known as the first-instance authority in the complaint case, may revoke or change its decision if it finds grounds to do so. If the first-instance authority does not wish to change its decision, the case is forwarded to the appeal authority, which conducts an independent review of the case. If the municipality upholds its decision, you can escalate the complaint to the County Governor.

Complaint handling by the County Governor
The County Governor will gather necessary information from the institution and personnel involved in the complaint. The case will then be reviewed by a lawyer and a healthcare professional. The final assessment is sent in writing as a letter. The complainant will have access to the case documents and will have the opportunity to present their views.

Processing by the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision
A caseworker at the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision will contact you within the next few business days to gather further details about the incident.

All reports are investigated. After the initial review, reports are handled in different ways depending on the severity and complexity of the incident and the risk of similar incidents occurring again.

In addition to contacting you for further details, the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision will also collect information from the relevant service provider before deciding how the report should be followed up.