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Second opinion in Sweden: a guide for English speakers

This page is for you if you live in Sweden, have already been given a diagnosis, an imaging result or a recommendation for surgery — and want another specialist to look at it before you decide. It is written for people navigating Swedish healthcare in a language that is not their own, where the hardest part is often not the medicine but knowing which door exists.

Quick answer

In Sweden you can seek a second opinion in three ways: through the public system with a referral or a self-written care request (egen vårdbegäran), by choosing a publicly funded provider in another region under chapter 9, section 1 of the Patient Act, or privately without any referral. A statutory right to a new medical assessment exists only for life-threatening or particularly serious illness — for planned orthopaedic surgery it normally does not apply, which surprises most patients. Private specialist care needs no referral, is usually available in English, and is the route most people use when the answer matters and the timeline does not allow 90 days.

What does "second opinion" mean in the Swedish system?

Two Swedish terms sit behind the English phrase, and they are not the same thing. Knowing which one you are asking for changes who has to say yes.

Ny medicinsk bedömning — "new medical assessment" — is the statutory term. It appears in chapter 8, section 1 of the Patient Act and carries a legal right, but only in defined circumstances. Andra bedömning — literally "second assessment" — is the everyday term for any further opinion you seek yourself, with or without a legal right to it. Most second opinions in Sweden are the second kind.

Do you have a legal right to a second opinion?

Sometimes. The Patient Act (2014:821), chapter 8, section 1, says in full:

En patient med livshotande eller särskilt allvarlig sjukdom eller skada ska få möjlighet att inom eller utom den egna regionen få en ny medicinsk bedömning.

In English: a patient with a life-threatening or particularly serious illness or injury shall be given the opportunity to obtain a new medical assessment, inside or outside their own region.

The limit is the important part, and it is where most English-language summaries stop being accurate. Cancer and other serious conditions normally qualify. Planned orthopaedic surgery — a knee replacement, a meniscus operation, a shoulder decompression — normally does not, however consequential the decision feels to you. That is not a loophole; it is what the section says. It also does not depend on your doctor agreeing that a second opinion is warranted: where the section applies, the right is yours.

What can you do when the law does not give you the right?

This is the question that actually matters for most readers, and there are three real routes. None of them requires your current doctor's permission.

Route	What it requires	What it costs	Realistic timeline
Public care, same region	A referral, or an egen vårdbegäran you write yourself	Ordinary patient fee, under the high-cost ceiling	Up to 90 days to a first specialist visit, counted from when the referral was issued
Public care, another region	The receiving region's referral rules still apply — chapter 9, section 1 gives you the choice of region, not an exemption	The patient fee that region charges; travel normally your own cost	Depends on that region's queue — the healthcare guarantee does not follow you
Private specialist	No referral in the normal case; your existing records	The provider's own fee, outside the high-cost ceiling	Usually the fastest, but never promised in advance

Can you really choose a provider in another region?

Yes, and this is the right most English-language guides omit entirely. Chapter 9, section 1 of the Patient Act says:

En patient som omfattas av en regions ansvar för hälso- och sjukvård ska inom eller utom denna region få möjlighet att välja utförare av offentligt finansierad öppen vård.

A patient covered by a region's responsibility for healthcare shall be able to choose a provider of publicly funded outpatient care inside or outside that region. If the orthopaedic clinic in your own region has a long queue, or you simply want a different set of eyes, you are not confined to it.

Three conditions come with it, and leaving them out is how this right gets oversold. You must follow the applicable referral rules of the region you are choosing — the choice is of region, not an exemption from its rules. You pay the patient fee charged by the treating region, which is not necessarily the same as at home. And if you make the choice yourself you normally cover your own travel and accommodation. The healthcare guarantee does not follow you: it applies in the region where you are registered.

Do you need a referral?

For private specialist care, normally no. For publicly funded specialist care, usually yes — but the referral does not have to come from a doctor. In most regions you can write an egen vårdbegäran, a care request in your own words, and 1177 states that it is assessed in the same way as a referral written by a physician. Whether an egen vårdbegäran can be used at all, and which referral rules apply, varies between regions and clinics. It can be rejected on medical grounds, exactly as a doctor's referral can.

What you always need, on every route, is your existing material: the written diagnosis or recommendation, the imaging reports, and the dates. A second opinion without the first opinion's documentation is not a second opinion — it is a first one, done with less information.

Will the consultation be in English?

In private specialist care, usually yes; English-language consultations are routine. In publicly funded care, do not assume it, and be careful with the claim — repeated across expat guides — that you have a right to an interpreter. The health legislation names an interpreter duty only for deaf and hearing-impaired patients. For language, the duty is built differently: chapter 3, section 6 of the Patient Act requires that information be adapted to the recipient's språkliga bakgrund, and section 7 requires the person giving it to make sure, as far as possible, that you have understood. For public providers, section 13 of the Administrative Procedure Act adds a duty to use an interpreter where needed so you can exercise your rights.

The practical upshot: you may be entitled to a language interpreter where one is needed for you to understand the information and protect your rights. It is the provider who assesses that need and arranges the interpreter, and you are normally not charged for it.

So state your language need when you book, not when you arrive. An interpreter has to be arranged in advance, and a consultation about surgery is the wrong place to discover that nobody did.

Every guide in this cluster

Thirty pages, grouped by where you are in the decision rather than by topic. If you know what you are looking for, start here rather than reading the sections above.

Navigating Swedish healthcare

Your legal right to a second opinion — what chapter 8, section 1 gives you, and its limit.
Choosing care in another region — the broad right in chapter 9, and its three conditions.
Referrals and self-written care requests — how a remiss works, and the request you can write yourself.
If your referral was rejected — what a rejection means and the three routes that stay open.
Seeing a specialist without a referral — the private route, and what you give up for it.
The healthcare guarantee — 0–3–90–90, and when each clock starts.
Language and interpreters — what the law actually requires, and what to ask for.
Getting care in English — where English is realistic and how to secure it.
What healthcare costs — patient fees, the high-cost ceiling, and private care.
How private healthcare works — the three categories the word covers here.
Care without a personnummer — what is open without registration.
EU citizens: EHIC, S1, S2 — which route your coverage puts you on.

Getting a second opinion

Unsure about a diagnosis — how to turn unease into a question someone can answer.
Orthopaedic second opinion — the cluster hub for joint, spine and post-surgical questions.
After a cancer diagnosis — where the statutory right can apply, and how to ask.
Unsure about an MRI result — why a finding is not an explanation.
Radiologist or orthopaedist? — which specialist answers which question about a scan.
Getting your records and images — the step that delays everything else.

Before orthopaedic surgery

Knee replacement — the five questions a second assessment should answer.
Hip replacement — why the diagnostic question matters more than the surgical one.
ACL reconstruction — where the timing became a real decision.
Meniscus surgery — degenerative or traumatic, and why it decides the rest.
Shoulder surgery — decompression, cuff tears, and the neck nobody examined.
Back surgery — where imaging findings and symptoms diverge most.
Spinal stenosis — the condition where timing is hardest.
Waiting times for knee and hip surgery — what the queue means and how to use it.

After surgery

Still in pain after surgery — what an independent assessment looks at now.
When revision surgery is proposed — a second operation is its own decision.

Local care

Second opinion in Gothenburg, in English — in person or remotely.

About the service

How it works — four manual steps, and what each amount covers.
About us — who runs it and how it is funded.
Send a request — free, in English, no commitment.

What does it cost?

Publicly funded visits carry the region's ordinary outpatient fee and count toward the high-cost ceiling (högkostnadsskydd), after which further visits are free for the rest of the twelve-month period. Private assessments outside the regional agreements are paid in full by you and do not count toward that ceiling. The trade you are making is money against time and language — which is worth stating plainly rather than dressing up.

How Andrabedomning.se fits in

Andrabedomning.se is an independent Swedish patient guidance service. You describe your situation in a request — in English — and a person reads it and replies, normally within one working day, with information about relevant specialist contact. If we cannot help, you get an explanation of why and where to turn instead. We do not diagnose or provide medical care. Records go directly to the care provider, never to us.

Sending a request is free and commits you to nothing. If we can coordinate a suitable specialist contact, two amounts are disclosed to you in writing before anything is booked: our coordination fee (samordningsavgift), which is our only source of revenue, and the specialist's fee, which is set by the care provider and paid directly to them. We take no commissions or referral fees from specialists or clinics. How it works in full →

Andrabedomning.se coordinates the contact. The medical assessment is made by the specialist and care provider you choose.

Frequently asked questions about second opinions in Sweden

Is a second opinion free in Sweden?

It depends on the route. Inside publicly funded care you pay the ordinary patient fee for an outpatient visit, which is capped by the high-cost ceiling (högkostnadsskydd) once you have paid a set amount within twelve months. If you go to a private provider outside the regional agreements, you pay the provider's own fee and the high-cost ceiling does not apply. Sending a request to Andrabedomning.se is free and commits you to nothing.

Can I ask for a second opinion without offending my current doctor?

Yes. Asking for another assessment is a normal part of a considered medical decision, not a complaint about the doctor you have seen. You do not need your current doctor's permission to seek a private assessment, and for publicly funded outpatient care you have a statutory right to choose a provider anywhere in Sweden under chapter 9, section 1 of the Patient Act.

Will the specialist speak English?

In private specialist care in Sweden, English is common and consultations in English are routine. In publicly funded care you cannot assume it. You may be entitled to a language interpreter when one is needed for you to understand the information and protect your rights — the healthcare provider assesses the need, arranges the interpreter and normally does not charge you for it. Say when you book that you need the consultation in English or need an interpreter, rather than raising it on the day.

Do I need a personnummer to get a second opinion?

Not for private care. A private provider can treat you without a Swedish personal identity number, though you pay the full private fee. Publicly funded care at subsidised patient fees is tied to being registered as resident in a region, or to EU/EEA coverage documented with a European Health Insurance Card or the S1/S2 route. Bring the documentation you have and say up front what your status is.

How long does it take to get a second opinion?

Through the public route, the healthcare guarantee gives you a first visit in specialist care within 90 days from when the referral was issued — or, if no referral is needed, from when you first sought contact, and the assessment itself is not separately time-guaranteed. Private assessments are usually faster because no referral is needed, but no one can promise you a date in advance. Andrabedomning.se replies to a request normally within one working day; that is our reply time, not the specialist's.

What should I have ready before asking for a second opinion?

The diagnosis or recommendation in writing, the imaging reports and the dates they were made, any previous treatment you have had for the same problem, and the specific question you want answered. The question matters most: "should I have this operation" and "does this MRI finding explain my pain" lead to different assessments. Records and images go directly to the care provider who takes on the case, never to Andrabedomning.se.

Sources

Patient Act (patientlagen 2014:821) — chapter 8, section 1 on the right to a new medical assessment and its limits; chapter 9, section 1 on choosing a publicly funded provider inside or outside your own region; chapter 3, sections 6–7 on information adapted to the patient's linguistic background.
1177 — Vårdgaranti (the healthcare guarantee) — the four time limits (0–3–90–90): contact with the listed primary-care centre the same day, medical assessment by licensed healthcare staff within three days where needed, first specialist visit within 90 days, treatment within 90 days, and the duty to offer care elsewhere if they are not met.
Administrative Procedure Act (förvaltningslagen 2017:900) — section 13 on the duty of a public authority to use an interpreter when dealing with someone who does not master Swedish.
1177 — Remiss och egen vårdbegäran — that a patient-written egen vårdbegäran is assessed in the same way as a referral written by a doctor. Whether an egen vårdbegäran can be used at all, and which referral rules apply, varies between regions and clinics.

Editorially produced by Andrabedomning.se from the primary sources above. Sources last checked: 4 August 2026.

Orthopaedic second opinion in Sweden
The cluster for knee, hip, shoulder, back and post-surgical questions — where most second-opinion requests actually start.
Your legal right to a second opinion
What chapter 8, section 1 of the Patient Act does and does not give you — and what to do when it does not apply.
Choosing care in another Swedish region
The right most English-language guides leave out: publicly funded outpatient care anywhere in the country.
The healthcare guarantee and waiting times
The 0–3–90–90 limits, what they cover, and what happens when your region misses them.
Language and interpreters in Swedish healthcare
What the law actually says — and why the common claim that you have a right to an interpreter is not quite right.

Want a second opinion on a Swedish diagnosis?

Describe your situation in a few sentences and tell us which assessment or recommendation you have already received. Sending a request is free. If we can coordinate a suitable specialist contact, our coordination fee and the specialist's separate fee are disclosed in writing before you decide whether to book.

Send a free request

In an emergency, call 112. For non-urgent medical advice, call 1177.