Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Specialist health service
The specialist health services include somatic hospitals, mental health services, substance abuse treatment (TSB) and ambulance services. Access to treatment or assessment in the specialist health services generally requires a referral from a physician in the municipal health and care services, such as a general practitioner or an emergency primary care service. The statistics provide information on personnel, accounts, activity and capacity in the specialist health services.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Specialist health service, main figuresDownload table as ...Specialist health service, main figures
2024 2025 Change in percent 2023 - 2024 2024 - 2025 Specialist health service Expenses (NOK million)1 201 473 226 165 7 12 Beds 17 779 17 581 -2 -1 Discharges 832 983 919 796 0 10 Bed-days 5 209 755 5 059 914 -2 -3 Man-years 140 664 142 826 1 2 1The figures are in current prices. Expenses for 2025 were corrected on 23 June 2026 at 08:00. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 2 July 2026.
Specialist Health Services
The specialist health services provide assessment, treatment and follow-up care for patients whose healthcare needs require more specialised services than those provided by the municipal health and care services. This includes patients with acute, severe or long-term illnesses and other health conditions.
The specialist health services include treatment provided by somatic hospitals, mental health services, multidisciplinary specialist substance use treatment (TSB), and ambulance services. Access to specialist health services generally requires a referral from a physician or another healthcare professional.
The specialist health services are the responsibility of the Norwegian government and are administered through the four Regional Health Authorities (RHAs). Services are primarily delivered by public health trusts owned by the state. Specialist health services are also provided by private institutions operating under agreements with the Regional Health Authorities.
Somatic Hospitals
Hospitals and other healthcare institutions that provide assessment and treatment for patients with physical injuries and illnesses and offer inpatient care. In the statistics, this category also includes rehabilitation services.
Mental Health Services
Adult mental health services provide assessment and treatment for psychiatric disorders. These services are delivered in hospital departments or at District Psychiatric Centres (DPS). Patients may receive either inpatient treatment or outpatient care through consultations.
Mental health services are divided into services for adults and services for children and adolescents (BUP). Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (BUP) are available to children and young people under the age of 18 and their families.
Substance abuse treatment
Multidisciplinary specialist substance abuse treatment (TSB) provides specialised healthcare services for people with substance use disorders. The multidisciplinary approach means that care is provided by professionals with expertise in medicine, psychology and social work.
TSB includes inpatient treatment, day treatment, outpatient services and outreach services. It is also responsible for detoxification services and emergency care.
Ambulance Services
The ambulance service provides emergency medical response for patients requiring emergency medical treatment outside hospitals, as well as stretcher transport for patients who need transport to a healthcare institution or physician for necessary examination or treatment. These services are provided by teams consisting of both medical and non-medical personnel.
Air Ambulance Services
The air ambulance service consists of ambulance helicopters and fixed-wing air ambulances. Air ambulance crews include physicians and nurses and are equipped to provide advanced medical care before and during transport.
Ambulance helicopters are primarily used to transport patients with acute illness or injury to hospital as quickly as possible. Fixed-wing air ambulances are primarily used to transport patients between hospitals.
Contract specialists
Contract specialists are privately practising medical specialists, physicians or psychologists who have operating agreements with a Regional Health Authority. Contract specialists assess and treat conditions that do not require inpatient care, similar to hospital outpatient clinics.
Contract specialists include psychiatrists and psychologists, ENT specialists (ear, nose and throat), and ophthalmologists, among others.
Administration and services
In the tables presenting full-time equivalent (FTE) employment in the specialist health services, administration and support services are included as a separate service area.
Administrative and support staff perform a wide range of tasks that facilitate healthcare professionals focusing on patient care. This includes staff working in finance, human resources, documentation and records management, office administration, logistics, information and communications technology (ICT), technical operations, as well as kitchen and cleaning services.
Common code lists in Specialist health services statistics:
- Kodeliste for offentlige helseforetak
- Kodeliste for private helseinstitusjoner med oppdrags- og bestillerdokument
- Kodeliste for regionale og felleseide støtteforetak i spesialisthelsetjenesten
- Kodeliste for tjenesteområder i spesialisthelsetjenesten
Accounts:
- Kodeliste for funksjonskontoinndeling til helseforetakenes regnskapsdata
- Kodeliste for artskontoinndeling til helseforetakenes regnskapsdata
- Kodeliste for inntekter og kostnader i spesialisthelsetjenesten
- Kodeliste for tjenesteområder innenfor regnskap i spesialisthelsetjenesten
- Kodeliste for artskontoinndeling til helseforetakenes balanseregnskap
Activities and services:
Personnel:
- Kodeliste for yrkesgrupper i spesialisthelsetjenesten
- Kodeliste for utdanningsgrupper i spesialisthelsetjenesten
- Kodeliste for pasient- og brukerrettede stillinger
- Kodeliste for spesialiteter for avtalespesialistene (innsamling)
Maternity wards:
Emergency rooms:
Health trusts' service areas:
- Kodeliste for opptaksområder i spesialisthelsetjenesten (somatikk)
- Kodeliste for opptaksområder i spesialisthelsetjenesten (psykisk helsevern)
- Kodeliste for opptaksområder i spesialisthelsetjenesten (rusbehandling)
- Kodeliste for opptaksområder i spesialisthelsetjenesten (DPS)
Name: Specialist health service
Topic: Health
Division for Health, care and social statistics
The statistics are presented at national level, health regional level and health trust level.
The statistics are published annually at the following times:
- Distance to nearest maternity ward: January/February
- Population in service areas: March
- Full-time equivalents (FTEs): March/April
- Accounts: June
- Activity and capacity: June
- Ambulance services: June
Parts of the statistics are reported to OECD, Eurostat, WHO and NOMESCO.
Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.
Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.
The system for assuring the quality of Norwegian official statistics is based on quality requirements in the Statistics Act and in the European Statistics Code of Practice.The annual report on the quality of official statistics assesses compliance with the quality requirements for all official statistics as a whole.
The National programme for official statistics sets the framework for the areas Statistics Norway and other public authorities produce statistics on. The programme defines and outlines official statistics.
Further information about the system for quality in official statistics can be found at ssb.no
The purpose of the statistics is to present the following:
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Resource use, measured in costs and personnel
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Capacity, measured among other things by inpatient beds, personnel and number of ambulances
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Activity, measured among other things by bed-days, outpatient consultations and number of ambulance assignments
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Provide information on the population in the health trusts’ service areas
The current statistics for the specialist health services mainly cover the period from 2002, when the state assumed responsibility for the services.
The statistics are used by the Ministry of Health and Care services, the Directorate of health and social affaires, the National Board of Health, the Health Enterprises, organizations, researchers, students and more. According to the Specialist Health Service Act, the Health Enterprises are under an obligation to offer the population health services on specialist level. In connection with that, statistics are used to monitor the development in capacity, activity and personnel resources in the regions.
In addition, the Norwegian Directorate of Health uses the statistics as data source for their Samdata publications.
No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on Statistics Norway at 8 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Overview of planned releases and events.
Emplyees in Specialist health services is part of the overall statistics of Health care personel.
Accounting information is included in General government revenue and expenditure
OECD has developed a system for the health accounts ("A system of Health Accounts", OECD 2000) based on a common framework that will ensure optimum comparability of data over time and between countries. The accounts cover all expenses for health purposes, both private and public, which are spent on consumption and investments in health services. The expenses are classified according to function (purpose), provider and financing source. Statistics from the specialist health service accounts are included as basic data in the compilation of the more extensive health accounts. See Health Accounts.
Special Health Service Act of 2 July 1999, Section 61 § 5-6, and Statistics Act of 21 June 2019, Section 32 §10-1.
Not relevant
The statistics cover Regional health enterprises (RHE), Health enterprises (HE) and private hospitals and institutions. General hospitals, rehabilitation institutions, institutions in mental health care for adults and for children and adolescents, ambulance service, operating agreements with private specialists and clinical psychologists and multidisciplinary specialised substance abuse institutions are included.
Population for this statistics is defined by Classification of Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007). All Regional Health Enterprises (RHE) and Health Enterprises with subordinate local units are included. Private enterprises and local units which have an operating argreement with RHE are included.
Electronic questionnaires are used for reporting on capasity (beds).
Accounts are reported as flat text files.
Personnel data (employees, full time equivalents) is based on administrative registers, and the joint reporting solution called "a-ordningen". A-ordningen is a coordinated digital collection of data on employment, income and tax deductions to the Tax Administration, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Organization and Statistics Norway.
Activity data (bed-days, discharges, day treatment, out patient consutations) are collected by the Norwegian Patient Register, administered by the The Norwegian Directorate of Health.
Data are collected via electronic schemes and electronic account files. Schemes are accessible on the Internet from January. Response deadline for activity is February 1.st for HE/RHE, and private institutions. Response deadline for accounts is April 1.st for HE/RHE and private institutions
Statistics Norway performs automatic sum controls of the data material. In addition, the data are compared with information from previous years, and with other sources (data on activity, personnel and patients). Institutions are contacted in the event of missing data or discrepancies in the data.
Contracted man-years adjusted for long term leaves
The number of full-time jobs and part-time jobs calculated as full-time equivalents adjusted for doctor-certified sickness absence and maternity leave.
Not relevant
Data is presented on aggregated level, in order not to identify persons and private enterprises. Data for governmental enterprises (RHE/HE) are presented, jf. Statistical act 2019 §7-3.
The length of time series that is relevant to produce can vary, with some variables dating far back in time. The greatest break was when the hospital reform was introduced in 2002. Prior to this, the specialist health service was a county municipal responsibility. The statistics are therefore broken down into different regional levels before and after the reform. Up to 2001, the statistics were presented at county level, while from 2002, health regions and health enterprises are divided into the relevant regions.
New service areas are gradually being added to the specialist health service. The most important expansion was in 2004, when multidisciplinary specialist treatment for substance abuse was transferred to the state via the regional health enterprises.
From 2004 also the air ambulance service is included.
When comparing total figures for the specialist health service, these expansions of the regional health enterprises' responsibility will explain various changes in overall sizes.
The main souce for identifiing units is Statistics Norway's Business register. Errors will occur if the register has deficiencies. In cooperation with the enterprises Statistics Norway try to identify and correct such sampling errors.
Electronic controlls aim to reduce risk of misunderstandings and typing errors. Data is controlled at macro level by Statistics Norway. Controlls are based on established statistical method and "European Statistics Code of Practice".
Not relevant.