Health centres

Linköping has 13 health centres in the municipality. As soon as you are registered in the county and have received the last four numbers of your personal identification number you can contact a health centre to register yourself and your family. Asylum seekers are also welcome at their nearest health centre, but cannot register.

From September 1, 2009, you can choose your own healthcare provider in Östergötland. “Vårdval,” or healthcare choice means that you are free to choose which health centre to register with and have as your permanent health centre. It does not have to be the health centre closest to your home and all residents should be registered at a health centre. To see a list of the health centres available in Linköping, visit the County Counsil's (Landstinget’s) website.

At the health centre there are doctors and nurses who specialise in assessing medical conditions of a general nature. They examine, diagnose and treat both simple and more complicated complaints and chronic illnesses. They are assisted by other health professionals such as occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians and counsellors.
Most health centres have an automatic telephone system called TeleQ. This means that an answering machine will answer in Swedish when you call. You need to be prepared to key in your area code and telephone number. You will then be given a time when you will be phoned back.

If you become ill

If you become ill and it is not an emergency you should first contact your health centre or phone the Medical Advice Phone Line on 1177. The Medical Advice Phone Line is staffed by Swedish- , and sometimes English-, speaking nurses. They can advise and help you if you need to contact a doctor.

All health centres are open until at least 5 pm on weekdays. If you become ill in the evening or during a weekend, call 1177 to speak to the Healthcare Advice Phone Line, which is open 24 hours a day. There are emergency clinics in Linköping, Norrköping, Motala and Finspång that are open in the evening and on weekends. You book appointments to these emergency clinics through the Healthcare Advice Phone Line.

If you become seriously ill call 112 if you require an ambulance or visit a hospital casualty department.

Who can seek care?

Anyone who is registered in Sweden, that is, anyone who has a personal number, is entitled to seek care at a health centre. It is also necessary to register with Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan) also. If you are registered as living in Sweden Försäkringkassan will contact you for registration. You can however seek care before you are registered.

When seeking medical care a personal patient card is used to identify the patient. To order a patient card, visit Landtinget’s website. 

If you are not a Swedish citizen and not a registered resident of Linkoping, you must pay for doctor visits immediately. You may however be able to get the money back from your insurance company at home.
If you are an asylum seeker or paperless, you can also get care. For more information, visit Landstinget's website. 

Fees

When you receive health care you have to pay for it. The size of the fee payable depends on the sort of health care you receive and whether you receive it at a health centre or a hospital.

There is a limit to the health care costs that you have to pay during a 12-month period. In Östergötland this limit is 900 Swedish kronor. When you have paid 900 kronor you will be entitled to a free card (frikort) for the rest of the 12-month period. The day fee payable when you are an inpatient in hospital is not covered by the free card. Costs of health checks, vaccinations, health certificates and pregnancy tests are not covered either.

• At health centres 150:-
• At hospitals 300:-
• Children and young people under 20 yrs old 0:-

For more information on fees, visit Landstinget's website.