Choosing a treatment centre if you are a cancer patient

You have the right to choose a hospital both when you have been referred for suspected cancer and if you have actually been diagnosed with cancer.

Patient pathways

Each patient pathway defines the number of days that each part of the investigation should take through until the presence of cancer is either disproven or confirmed, and until any treatment starts.

See all cancer patient pathways

The times stated in the patient pathways are recommendations. Patients who are referred to a cancer patient pathway will also be assessed with regard to their rights and be given a legally binding deadline for the start of their healthcare.

All health trusts/hospitals which investigate and treat cancer patients have their own pathway coordinators. More information and contact details for these can be found on the relevant health trust's website.

Waiting times

It is currently not possible to find an overview of hospitals which provide cancer treatment or to compare waiting times at helsenorge.no/velg-behandlingssted.

For more information on choosing a treatment centre for cancer, please call the helsenorge.no helpline on 23 32 70 00 and ask to be put through to a patient advisor for advice and guidance.

Quality

A number of national quality indicators for treatment and survival rates have been developed for different types of cancer.

See the national quality indicators for treatment and survival rates by cancer type (helsedirektoratet.no, in Norwegian)

Here, you will find indicators which measure how closely the hospitals follow the recommendations defined in the patient pathways. More indicators like this will be published in due course.

The national quality indicators can give you an indication of the quality of health services, but interpreting quality indicators can sometimes be a complicated process. Read more about how to interpret the results.