Stockholm, September 23, 2025 — Sweden’s Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) has endorsed government proposals to give the Health and Social Care Inspectorate (IVO) broader powers to act against unscrupulous and criminal actors in the healthcare sector.
In its response to the memorandum Improved Conditions for IVO, Konkurrensverket said the measures would strengthen rule compliance and help ensure fairer competition in the market.
Konkurrensverket underlined that stronger oversight is not only a matter of patient safety, but also of market fairness. Legitimate providers risk unfair competition from rogue operators when bidding for public contracts — a problem the agency says has grown in recent years.
The proposals include granting IVO the authority to impose sanction fees or shut down operations where providers fail to meet mandatory reporting obligations. Reporting duties would also expand to require healthcare providers to submit the personal or coordination number of their operations manager, which would be recorded in the national provider register.
To better identify and respond to providers incapable of delivering safe and quality care, the draft also introduces an obligation for municipalities and regions to report concerns to IVO.
The authority also suggested exploring whether IVO should be able to feed information back to municipalities and regions, making it easier for contracting authorities nationwide to assess providers’ reliability.
