The Healthcare System in the Faroe Islands: Health Insurance, Doctors, Hospitals and Emergencies

According to the Faroese Ministry of Health and Energy, health rests on two pillars: primary care (general practitioners and other professionals) and hospital services. The system is mostly public, in its provision as in its funding; the private sector is limited, mainly to dental care and physiotherapy. The three local hospitals (Landssjúkrahúsið, Klaksvíkar Sjúkrahús and Suðuroyar Sjúkrahús) are public institutions under the ministry’s authority, and certain health services are purchased abroad. The midwifery service falls under hospital services, and pharmacies are run by the public authority.

The Chief Medical Officer is employed by the Danish health authorities and shares supervision of health services with the Danish health authority. The result is an organisation distinct from Denmark’s, described in the page Danish healthcare system, but close in its principles: public funding, the general practitioner as linchpin, public hospitals. The page Health insurance in the Faroe Islands summarises the requirements for a French national.

Heilsutrygd is the Faroe Islands’ national health insurance. All residents are covered by it and receive free or subsidised care from many primary care providers. It was created on 1 January 2010 to replace eleven regional funds; it settles the subsidies for most primary care and manages, with the pharmacy service, the supplementary scheme for medicines. General practitioners are employed by Heilsutrygd.

Access rests on the Faroese identity number (p-tal): holders are covered by the national health insurance for general and specialist care, according to the Vágar municipality. For a French national, the p-tal is obtained by registering with their municipality after the residence and work permit is granted (immigration office); it is also needed to open a bank account and receive a taxed salary. For a fully taxable resident, the TAKS tax administration indicates a Heilsutrygd contribution made up of a fixed monthly part plus a low percentage of income, set every year, from age 18. Each new resident is assigned a general practitioner by the national insurance (EURAXESS), and pregnant women are entitled to free childbirth assistance, whatever their nationality (Vágar municipality).

Visitors: short stays by nationals of the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom benefit from the same access to care; visitors from other countries must take out their own travel health insurance before arrival (EURAXESS, Vágar municipality). As European health insurance regulations do not apply in the Faroe Islands, the European Health Insurance Card cannot be presented there; see the glossary entry on the EHIC.

The general practitioner is the first contact for any non-emergency illness and refers to specialists if necessary (EURAXESS). When the general practitioner refers the patient to another provider, Heilsutrygd covers all or part of the costs; many providers work under collective agreements or contracts with the insurance. Heilsutrygd publishes the list of providers, sortable by profession and geographical area, on its website: the archipelago is divided there into nine primary care areas (læknadømi).

• Making an appointment: the Vágar municipality indicates that residents can choose a general practitioner and book an appointment online at minlaekni.fo or by telephone in the morning; most general practitioners offer telephone consultations from 8 am to 9 am (EURAXESS).
• Specialists: specialist consultations are subsidised; some procedures involve a co-payment paid directly to the specialist (EURAXESS).
• Other professions: Heilsutrygd lists in its provider list chiropractors, dentists, dental hygienists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and chiropodists.

The public hospital service (Sjúkrahúsverkið) brings together three facilities:

• Landssjúkrahúsið (national hospital), J.C. Svabosgøta 41-49, 100 Tórshavn, telephone +298 30 45 00;
• Klaksvíkar Sjúkrahús, Sjúkrahúsbrekka 1, 700 Klaksvík, telephone +298 45 45 45;
• Suðuroyar Sjúkrahús, Sjúkrahúsbrekkan 19, 800 Tvøroyri, telephone +298 34 33 00.

The general practitioner generally organises admissions and referrals. Certain health services are purchased outside the archipelago (Ministry of Health and Energy); the conditions for these arrangements abroad are not detailed in the pages consulted and should be checked with Heilsutrygd. The hospitals’ website also publishes patient rights rules, visiting hours and reimbursement of patients’ travel between islands.

• 112: emergencies. The Vágar municipality specifies that in an emergency, you can go to the hospital emergency department or dial 112.
• 1870: on-call doctor (Læknavaktin), for urgent care outside normal hours, i.e. from 4 pm to 8 am according to EURAXESS.
• +298 31 45 44: dental emergencies at weekends and on public holidays, from 10 am to 11 am (EURAXESS).

For the Kingdom of Denmark, France Diplomatie (the French foreign ministry) recommends having an assistance contract or insurance covering medical costs, hospitalisation and medical repatriation, as the French embassy cannot cover these costs. In the Faroe Islands, where the EHIC cannot be used and where sea rescue resources are limited in polar and subpolar waters, this protection should be assessed in light of the remoteness: repatriation and assistance and medical evacuation should be checked in the contract.

The Faroese pharmacy service, under the ministry’s authority, comprises four pharmacies (Tjaldurs Apotek, Eysturoyar Apotek, Norðoya Apotek and Suðuroyar Apotek); it holds the exclusive right to produce, import, export, store, market and package medicines, except for exceptions provided by the pharmacy law. Heilsutrygd grants a supplement for prescribed medicines. For medicines taken for personal use, the Faroese government does not require a “medication passport”: it recommends taking the quantity needed for the stay plus two days, in the original packaging, and indicates that a prescription is optional but useful to justify the prescription.

For adults, dental care is provided by private dentists, with partial reimbursement from Heilsutrygd; children up to age 18 receive free public dental care (EURAXESS). The Vágar municipality specifies that dental care is not entirely free but entitles people to financial support from the insurance. Optical care and other care not listed in the sources consulted should be confirmed with Heilsutrygd.

The path to care follows the order of the residence formalities. The steps below draw on the information published by the Faroese authorities and by CLEISS (the French centre for European and international social security liaison); each should be confirmed with the body concerned.

1. Before departure: obtain the residence and work permit from the immigration office, and take out travel or expatriate health insurance with medical repatriation, the EHIC not being valid.
2. On arrival: register with the municipality to obtain the identity number (p-tal); it opens access to the health system, a bank account and receipt of a taxed salary.
3. Affiliation: residents are covered by Heilsutrygd, which assigns a general practitioner to each new resident; the municipality generally sends a letter to choose the doctor of the area, and the Vágar municipality invites people to contact its services if no letter arrives.
4. First contact: booking an appointment online or by telephone with the general practitioner, who coordinates referrals to specialists and the hospital.
5. In an emergency: dial 112 or go to the emergency department of one of the three hospitals; 1870 reaches the on-call doctor outside opening hours.
6. For a seconded employee: keep paid invoices and form S 3125c to request reimbursement from the French affiliation fund (see healthcare reimbursement in the Faroe Islands).

General medicine services are administered by both the municipal authorities and the health authorities (Ministry of Health and Energy). Heilsutrygd also manages the municipal medical system, the Gigni scheme and the regional health system, and supervises addiction treatment facilities.

The France Diplomatie health section on Denmark, on which the Faroe Islands depend for French consular responsibility, invites travellers to consult a doctor or an international vaccination centre well before departure and to keep routine vaccinations up to date, in particular diphtheria, tetanus, polio, whooping cough and measles. In the passages consulted, it contains no separate recommendation for the archipelago; the tick-borne encephalitis vaccination it mentions mainly concerns Bornholm and northern Zealand, where most cases are detected. It also recommends requesting the European Health Insurance Card for Denmark, which does not apply to the Faroe Islands.

The best-documented risks for travellers to the Faroe Islands are environmental: France Diplomatie flags weather that changes very quickly, with dense fog and strong winds, and advises staying on marked trails along the coast and near cliffs, with suitable equipment. See the page living in the Faroe Islands and the general guide expat health insurance. Expavy helps you weigh these options against your situation.