Adequate interface and behaviour of healthcare workers in rural areas

About 84% of respondents said that their attitude and conduct was generally good. These results are, however, worse than those from a similar survey in 2020. One third of respondents stated that it is urgent to reduce waiting times for medical services in rural areas.

Nearly half of respondents said they received service within a reasonable time. Almost 20% stated that it was most important to facilitate access to doctors by phone, followed by increased electronic services and the possibility to register as a permanent general practitioner. Lagging results indicate that the extensive pressure during the past two years had a negative impact on the service levels of the health care centers in rural areas.

Health centres in the Suðurnes region improve the most of all the institutions in the region

The results of all primary health care centres in the region, except in the Suðurnes region, are lower than in 2020. At that point the stations in the Suðurnes region were the lowest, but now they are in the middle of the group and getting significantly better reviews. Health care centres in the North of Iceland receive on average the highest grade in the countryside. When comparing the service level of different stations, it must be kept in mind that many things can affect service levels of different stations in the period examined, e.g. staffing problems, illnesses of staff etc.

The service survey is a part of regular monitoring by the Health Insurance Administration of services provided on the basis of contracts with the Administration. Health insurance is of the opinion that the survey provides valuable information on what is done well and what can be done better for individual healthcare centres. You can view all the results of the survey by clicking . The results have already been communicated to the clinic operators and will subsequently be used by both the Health Insurance and individual service providers to further develop and strengthen the service.

More details about the survey:

Maskína conducted the survey for Health Insurance between October 3 and November 21, 2022. A random sample of people from January 1 st to September 30 th 2022 who had attended community health clinics in the countryside was used in the study. A total of 5,558 individuals took part in the survey. The survey was conducted in Icelandic, English and Polish.