How Norwegian healthcare works

When you stay a year or more, you are registered as a resident, get a fødselsnummer, and gain the right to a fastlege. A D-number alone usually does not give that right. Log in to helsenorge.no with BankID or MinID, search by municipality, and pick one with open places; without an e-ID, call the Helsenorge helpdesk on 23 32 70 00. You can change GP twice a year.

Booking: most offices let you book, renew prescriptions and send messages on Helsenorge. Otherwise call the office in the morning. Say you are a patient and want a time, or ask for an e-konsultasjon (text or video).

Students at UWC: the school nurse and wellbeing counsellor are your first stop on campus and can book at the local GP office for you. The GP office for Fjaler is at Fjaler helsetun in Dale, about 15 minutes from Flekke, open weekdays 08:00 to 15:30, phone 57 73 81 80.

Costs: a GP visit has a co-payment (egenandel) of about 180 kroner in the daytime and about 300 in the evening. Since August 2026 it is free under 18. When your co-payments pass the yearly ceiling, a free card (frikort) is issued automatically and the rest of the year is free.

E-konsultasjon: on Helsenorge you can write to your GP, send photos, and get a written answer, usually within a few working days. Good for rashes, follow-ups, prescriptions, mild symptoms, and questions.

Video with your GP: many offices offer a video time the same way as a physical time. You get a link on Helsenorge or by SMS.

Video with legevakt: when you call 116 117 the nurse can set up a video consultation instead of asking you to drive to Førde. This is common in the evening for children, rashes, minor injuries and infections.

When video is not enough: chest pain, breathing trouble, injuries that need stitches or an x-ray, severe abdominal pain, anything that needs a physical examination. The nurse will tell you to come in.

Førde sentralsjukehus is the hospital for the region, about 50 km and 50 minutes from Flekke: emergency department, surgery, maternity, psychiatry, x-ray. Haukeland in Bergen is the university hospital for anything more specialised, about three and a half hours by car with the Lavik ferry, or bus plus the express boat from Rysjedalsvika.

You cannot walk into a hospital emergency department in Norway without going through 113 or legevakt first, unless it is a true emergency. The legevakt in Førde sits right next to the hospital, so if you are sent to hospital the hand-over is short.

Getting there without a car: Skyss buses run from Flekke and Dale to Førde; check the Skyss app for times. If you have an appointment far away, Pasientreiser (05515) refunds travel over 10 km at a fixed rate per kilometre, minus a co-payment of up to 171 kroner each way, or arranges transport if you cannot travel alone. Ask the office that gave you the appointment.

The school will usually drive a student to legevakt or hospital. Tell the school nurse or the staff on duty; do not go alone if you feel very unwell.

Apotek is the pharmacy. The big chains are Apotek 1, Vitusapotek and Boots, plus the independent Sunnfjord Apotek. A pharmacist can advise on minor problems and will tell you when to see a doctor instead. There is no pharmacy in Fjaler; the nearest three are in Førde, so plan prescriptions around a trip there or have them sent.

Prescriptions (e-resept) are stored on your ID number. Show ID at any pharmacy in Norway. You can see your prescriptions on Helsenorge.

Without a prescription: paracetamol (Paracet), ibuprofen (Ibux), allergy tablets, nasal sprays, emergency contraception, nicotine products. Small packs of paracetamol, ibuprofen and nasal spray are also sold at KIWI in Dale and at petrol stations, over 18 only, and the staff there cannot give advice.

Bring enough of any regular medicine from home for the first months, with the prescription or a letter from your doctor. Some medicines that are common elsewhere need a prescription in Norway, such as antibiotics and codeine.

For a hard evening: Mental Helse 116 123 is open around the clock, also in English, and has a chat at sidetmedord.no. Under 18: Kors på halsen (Red Cross) 800 333 21, phone and chat. Kirkens SOS 22 40 00 40 is open around the clock for anyone.

For ongoing help: your GP is the way in. They can offer follow-up themselves, refer you to the district psychiatric centre (DPS) in Førde, or you can contact Fjaler's own mental-health team directly on 91 36 76 47 on weekdays, no referral needed and free. At UWC, the wellbeing counsellor and nurse can start this with you. A DPS must assess a referral within ten working days.

In a crisis: if you or someone else is in danger, call 116 117 or 113. The legevakt handles mental-health emergencies, and the psychiatric clinic at the hospital in Førde has an acute ward. Mental Helse also has a student line: call 116 123 and press 3.

Being far from home and in the dark of winter is hard for many students. Light, sleep, movement and saying it out loud early are the things that help most. Nobody here will think less of you for asking.

Children and young people up to the year they turn 18 get free dental care from the public dental service (den offentlege tannhelsetenesta). From the year you turn 19 until the year you turn 28 you pay a quarter of the price at the same public clinics; students from outside the EU/EEA need five years of residence for that discount. The clinic for Fjaler is in Dale, the bigger one in Førde.

Adults use private dentists and pay the full price, except for some conditions covered by Helfo. Ask for a price before treatment.

Emergencies: there is no dental emergency service in Sunnfjord because of the distances; the only public tannlegevakt in Vestland is in Bergen. Call Førde tannklinikk on 57 72 14 20 or a private dentist as soon as they open, and expect weekend rates at private dentists to be much higher. For a knocked-out tooth, keep it in milk and go the same day. For a facial injury, call 116 117.

Helsestasjon for ungdom (HFU) is a free drop-in clinic for young people. In Fjaler it is for ages 13 to 20, Tuesdays 14:00 to 15:30 in the basement of Fjaler helsetun in Dale, entrance on the fjord side. Contraception including implants and IUDs, the morning-after pill, pregnancy tests, testing for infections, and someone to talk to about anything. No appointment, no parents, no cost. Førde has a bigger clinic.

Young people under 22 get a yearly allowance towards hormonal contraception from Helfo, which makes most pills and implants free or nearly free. Condoms are free at the HFU. A nurse at the HFU or the school nurse can prescribe from age 16.

Emergency contraception is sold at pharmacies without a prescription, and the pharmacy can also give it to you free if you are in the youth age group. It works best within 24 hours.

Sex og samfunn runs a nationwide chat and phone service in Norwegian and English for questions you do not want to ask in person.

Since 2022 Norwegian law (tolkeloven) requires public services, including all health services, to use a qualified interpreter when it is needed to give you proper care. It costs you nothing. Children and friends should not be used as interpreters for medical conversations.

Ask when you book, or at the start: Jeg trenger tolk på [your language]. On the phone with 116 117, say it early; they can add an interpreter to the call.

Most doctors and nurses in Norway speak good English. Ask anyway if you would be more comfortable in your own language, especially for mental health, pregnancy and anything serious.

Members of the Norwegian national insurance scheme (everyone who lives and is registered here, including students staying a year or more) pay a co-payment (egenandel) for GP, legevakt, specialist visits, x-rays, physiotherapy and prescription medicines on blue prescription. When the total passes the yearly ceiling of 3,278 kroner in 2026, you get a frikort automatically and pay nothing for the rest of the year. Since August 2026, under 18 is free.

Hospital stays and treatment in the emergency department after referral are free. Ambulances are free.

EU/EEA, UK and Swiss citizens: bring your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or GHIC. It gives the same co-payment rates as Norwegians for necessary care. Students staying less than a year usually have no GP and pay as visitors, so insurance matters; UWC Red Cross Nordic insures its students for the whole stay, so ask the school office what is covered before paying anything large.

Bring ID to every visit. Pay at the front desk or by invoice; a small fee is added if you are invoiced.