By patient travel we mean journeys to and from publicly approved healthcare appointments. Health trusts are responsible for patient travel, and your local hospital will reimburse the cost of your journey.
You are entitled to the reimbursement of necessary expenses incurred when travelling to and from healthcare appointments. The general rule is that you will be reimbursed for the cheapest means of public transport to and from your nearest treatment centre. You first make your own travel arrangements, then submit a travel expense form to the address indicated on the form after your appointment. Remember to enclose confirmation that you attended the appointment, as well as all relevant original receipts. You can obtain a travel expense form from your healthcare professional or download one from www.pasientreiser.no.
You have to pay a contribution, set by the Norwegian government, towards the cost of all patient travel. This contribution is automatically counted towards obtaining an exemption card.
Children under the age of 16, required travel assistants and patients with an exemption card or otherwise exempted are not required to pay a contribution. If you exercise your right to free hospital choice, the contribution is slightly higher.
This applies if you choose a hospital in a different health region from the one where you live.
If you are unable to use public transport for health reasons, you can seek to obtain a requisition for an alternative means of transport. Your health professional will evaluate your need and issue the requisition.
In some cases, if there is no public transport service available you may be entitled to requisition another means of transport. Your local patient travel office, which you can call on ✆05515, will decide whether you are entitled to this. Your patient travel office can also help you plan your travel arrangements. You do not need to complete a travel expense form if you use a travel requisition.
Book a journey by calling your patient travel office on ✆05515 before 1 pm on the working day prior to departure. Flights should be booked as soon as you have been notified of your appointment and must always be booked through your patient travel office.
When you call, we will need to know:
Your healthcare professional will make a note of any special requirements on the requisition form.
Your local patient travel office will attempt to plan for several patients to take the same taxi/coach where practicable and provided that it does not constitute a health risk. You must expect to have to wait when travelling to and from appointments.
If you have any questions about patient travel, please call ✆05515 or see www.pasientreiser.no
Proper use of the patient travel system enables us to provide a better service to those who really need it.