Hans Petter Schjønsby - Helsetilsynet

Hans Petter Schjønsby:
Health Board (Sundhedscollegiet) 1809-1815
The fi rst central administrative body for supervision of
health services in Norway
Short summary of Report from the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision 1/2009
For a long time, Copenhagen was the
only centre of events in the Danish-
Norwegian state. But from 1809 and for
some years later something happened
that would have an impact on national
administration of the health service: the
Royal Norwegian Health Board was
established in Christiania. This was the
fi rst national Norwegian administrative
body with specifi c tasks related to the
health services, or to be more precise,
medical and pharmacy services.
The Board’s remit was particularly
clear and precise, both in relation to the
nature of the tasks and the requirements
for administrative procedures. The work
of the Board was to have a clear supervisory
perspective. For example, according
to Section 19, fi rst sentence:
The Board shall monitor that legislation
currently in force relating to medical
services in Norway, and other legislation
coming into force in the future, is
upheld and acted in accordance with.
If necessary, the Board was required to
address the need for extra measures
with the appropriate responsible bodies.
The work of the Board was to be directed
both at the bodies and the personnel,
though the military health
service was not included in the task of
supervision.
The requirements for administrative
procedures are also noteworthy. The
importance of effectiveness was
stressed. In addition, it was required
that there should be openness both
about the assessments that were made
and about any doubt or disagreement.
This still represents good administrative
practice up to the present day.
This report provides an overview of the
administrative work of the Board, based
on material available from the archives.
HANS PETTER SCHJØNSBY: SUNDHEDSCOLLEGIET 1809-1815. DET FØRSTE SENTRALE ADMINISTRASJONS- OG TILSYNSORGAN FOR HELSEVESENET I NORGE
/ RAPPORT FRA HELSETILSYNET / 1/2009 / 80