"A free choice of primary care provider and freedom of establishment for accredited primary care providers is nationally mandated in Sweden. There is no formal gatekeeping role in most regions and patients are free to contact specialists directly. Furthermore, a health care guarantee act stipulates maximum waiting times for a range of services. This is intended to strengthen the patient’s position in accessing services. The act describes a ‘0–7–90–90’ rule, meaning same day contact with the health care system; seeing a GP within seven days; consulting a specialist within 90 days; and waiting for no more than 90 days after…

"As shown in Figure 7, the number of physicians and nurses per population in Sweden is well above the EU average with 4.2 practicing doctors per 1 000 population (compared with an EU average of 3.6) and 11.1 practicing nurses per 1 000 population (compared with an EU average of 8.4). Most physicians (70%) have a recognised specialisation, and almost one-quarter of them are specialists in general medicine."Since 1990, Sweden has reduced the number of acute care hospital beds and the ratio per population is now the lowest of all EU countries, with only 2.3 acute care beds per 1…

"The responsibility for financing, purchasing and providing all individual health services in Sweden is decentralised to 21 regions. Regionally and locally established taxes are the basis for revenue collection, but a national redistribution scheme is designed to equalise the capacity to provide health services across the country. The state is responsible for regulation and supervision. It provides additional funding through general block grants, earmarked funding for outpatient pharmaceuticals and specific national programmes. The regions increasingly undertake initiatives to work cooperatively to share investments and cluster services. This is often initiated and supported by the national government, for example when six…

"Health indicators for the population are good—life expectancy and cancer and heart attack survival rates are among the highest in Europe according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures from 2017, and the country also came in the top five in the Lancet’s most recent Healthcare Access and Quality Index."But most Swedes will agree that, in recent years, concerns over whether provision of that care is faltering are being raised on a more regular basis."In the run-up to the elections, local media reported on concerns about waiting times, care continuity, under-capacity, and severe staff shortages."According to official data,…

"The run-up to parliamentary elections [in 2018], which delivered a hung parliament, saw a strong rise in support for the Sweden Democrats, a nationalist party, and was dominated by debates over immigration and the welfare state."As in many previous elections in the country, health care was one of the top issues for voters. But this year, pre-election campaigning highlighted how many Swedes are beginning to raise serious concerns about one of the pillars of the country’s society."'There is a perception among the public that the health-care system is worsening”, Niklas Bolin, a political analyst and associate professor at Mid Sweden…

"Sweden is a parliamentary democracy that is governed at the national, regional, local and European level. General elections at the national (parliamentary), regional and local levels are held every four years. In the elections, political parties are elected to represent the citizens in the three political assemblies, that is, the municipal, county council or regional assembly and the national parliament (Riksdag). All Swedish citizens aged 18 years or older are entitled to vote in the parliamentary and EU elections. To be entitled to vote in the municipal and county council/regional elections, individuals are required to be at least 18 years…

"Future developments within the Swedish health care sector can be expected to include the implementation of reforms already initiated. Overall, several initiatives initiated recently and under discussion are guided by the emerging performance paradigm in the governance and management of health care. Key words related to the current trend are national quality registers, transparent comparison, value for money, health outcomes from the patient perspective, process orientation and coordinated services. More attention is being focused on the need to establish valid performance indicators and increase abilities to monitor performance on a regular basis by investments in registers and new IT solutions.…