Principles for the strategy

The starting point for the strategy is that the health service’s principles for prioritisation apply to cancer, including in connection with the introduction of personalised medicine methods, and that the development of this field will contribute to sustainability in health and care services, cf. the National Strategy for Personalised Medicine 2023–2030.

Healthcare professionals are the most important resource in our public health service. There is fierce competition for personnel between the specialist health service, municipal health and care services and privately funded providers of health and care services. The challenges that the personnel shortage brings will be most keenly felt by the municipal care services. Demographic developments will require new solutions. There is a requirement in place for personnel consequences to be assessed as part of the basis for making decisions regarding measures that fall within the scope of the Ministry of Health and Care Services’ sector responsibility. The Government will continue its work to ensure a sufficient supply of qualified personnel for public health and care services through three focus areas:

• support for efforts to promote a good working environment and good working conditions
• appropriate division of tasks and competence development measures to promote the efficient organisation of work processes
• support work to ensure access to the appropriate expertise by means of recruitment, qualification and competence-raising

The goals set out in the strategy are to be put into concrete terms and implemented by the health authorities and the health and care services within the limits of their own areas of responsibility, budgets, personnel resources and other framework conditions. Efforts in other areas could also have a bearing on the achievement of the strategy’s goals. This applies in particular to preventive work and work to promote healthy lifestyle choices in the population.

Research communities, government agencies, business and industry, user organisations and regional health authorities and local health trusts collaborate through Cancer Mission Hub Norway to establish a national hub that can mobilise these actors to collaborate across disciplines and sectors and ensure coherence with national, regional and local cancer-related measures. This hub is an important part of Norway’s follow-up of the EU Cancer Mission and the Beating Cancer Plan.