About the Health and Social Care Inspectorate

IVO is also responsible for issuing certain permits in these areas. Its supervision remit covers the processing of complaints concerning, for example, the reporting of irregularities in health care and social care (called lex Sarah and lex Maria reports) and the municipal obligation to report non-enforced decisions.

Brief facts about the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) 

•  IVO is a government agency under the Government (Ministry of Health and Social Affairs).
• IVO has a staff of about 780.
• Its supervision activities are carried out at six regional offices around the country. The permit division and the Analysis division are located in Stockholm, as are the two agency-wide divisions the Director-General’s Office and the Support and Management Division.

IVO's mission statement

We are there for care receivers. By conducting supervision and issuing permits, our role is to contribute to health and social care that is safe, is of good quality and is provided in compliance with laws and other regulations.

Here is how IVO's supervision contributes to better care:

• Inspections and handling of reports and complaints
• Analysis and guidance
• Feedback from supervision and guidance for services
• Risk-based supervision.

Organisation 

The Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) is a director-general-led agency and Sofia Wallström is its Director-General. Operations are carried out at two agency-wide divisions in Stockholm and six regional offices around the country: Umeå (North), Örebro (Mid), Stockholm (East), Jönköping (Southeast), Gothenburg (Southwest) and Malmö (South).

All regional divisions are responsible for:

• Supervision of services in health care and in social services
• Supervision of licensed professionals, including reports to the Medical Responsibility Board (HSAN) regarding the withdrawal of licenses and other authorisations
• Complaints by individuals about health care and social services.

The Permit division

The Permit division is located in Stockholm. The Permit division examines applications for permits for private services under the Social Services Act, the Act concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments and the Health and Medical Services Act. Permits are required for, for example, certain privately provided services such as companies whose operations include personal assistance, residential care homes (HVB) for children and young people and some health care.

The Analysis division 

The Analysis division was established on April 1, 2021. The division heads IVO's analysis and development of supervision methods, applied data-driven analysis and management of statistics and registers. The division also includes the information service that answer questions and receive anonymous tips about irregularities within health care and social care facilities.

Centralised activities at the regional divisions

The following areas are centralised and are handled by the Division in Stockholm (East) on behalf of the whole agency.

•   Supervision and other work linked to blood and tissue services

•   Coordination concerning medical technology products and pharmacy supervision

•   Handling of all cases concerning destruction of patient records.

The Regional Division in Örebro has a central responsibility for the transfer of cases between municipalities under the Social Services Act.

Agency-wide divisions

The Director-General and the two agency-wide divisions are based in Stockholm. The agency-wide divisions are the Director-General’s Office and the Support and Management Division.

The Director-General’s Office provides support for the Director-General regarding the work of the agency’s management team and the external contacts of agency management.

The Support and Management Division works on strategic matters concerning finance, IT, communication, human resources and business development.