Norwegian Board of Health Supervision

The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision (Norwegian: Statens helsetilsyn, short name Helsetilsynet) is a national government institution under the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services.

The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision is an independent supervision authority, with responsibility for general supervision of child protection, health and social services in the country. The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision directs the supervision authorities at the county level: the Offices of the County Governors.

In Norway there are many acts relating to health and social services that:

Supervision is carried out for all statutory services, including services that are provided by publicly owned hospitals, municipalities, private organizations, and health care personnel who run their own practice.

However, the supervision authorities are independent of political direction, and to a large extent decide themselves about priorities for which services to supervise and which areas supervision shall include. Priorities are decided, among other things, on the basis of information about risk and vulnerability.

The supervision authorities contribute to ensuring that:

General supervision is supervision with an overall perspective, and involves collecting, organizing and interpreting information about health and social services from the perspective of supervision. This information forms the basis for evaluating supply and quality of services.

System audits are used for supervision of health and social care institutions (municipalities, nursing homes, hospitals etc.), based on internationally accepted methodology. The institutions are investigated by reviewing documents, carrying out interviews, inspecting premises, and carrying out random checks. Conditions that are in breach of laws or regulations (nonconformities) are documented in supervision reports. The supervision authorities follow up nonconformities with the owners and management until the conditions meet the statutory requirements. Each year, the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision designates between two and four areas for countrywide supervision.

The Offices of the County Governors information about possible deficiencies in services from many sources (patients, relatives, employers, the police, the mass media). About 2 000 cases are investigated each year to determine whether there has been a breach of laws or regulations. If a breach has occurred, the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision can give an administrative reaction against the institution, in the form of instructions to correct the conditions, or an administrative reaction against health care personnel with authorization, in the form of a warning, revocation of the right to requisition medicinal products, or withdrawal of authorization.

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