The Standing Committee on Health and Care Services has reviewed a private member's bill from Kathy Lie, Marian Hussein, and Anne Lise Gjerstad Fredlund seeking improvements to mental health services. The bill asks the government to review its mental health action plan, conduct a mid-term evaluation, update the plan with concrete measures, explore new organizational models for better coordination, and develop an action plan addressing the link between mental illness and social inequality. The committee has put forward several proposals reflecting differing priorities, with members from various parties disagreeing on several points.
AI-generated summary · Model: Claude Haiku 4.5 · Generated: 14 May 2026
These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
The Storting calls on the government to review the aims, tools, and resource use in the mental health action plan and present a mid-term evaluation to the Storting by the end of 2026. (Original private member's bill)
The Storting calls on the government to present an updated and strengthened mental health action plan, based on the evaluation, which should include: a concrete plan for increased resources; management measures ensuring mental health does not lose out in competition for health authority resources; specific measures to reduce waiting times for children and young people; steps to strengthen low-threshold services in municipalities; an assessment of the need for long-term beds in mental health care; further expansion of ACT and FACT teams; and measures to strengthen mental health services in schools and lower the threshold for seeking help. (Original private member's bill)
The Storting calls on the government to pilot and develop a model where mental health is organized as a more coherent treatment chain between municipal services and specialist health services, outside the current regional health authority structure. (Original private member's bill)
The Storting calls on the government to present an action plan addressing the link between mental illness and social and economic inequality, aimed at strengthening coordination between social services and mental health support, by June 2027. (Original private member's bill)
The Storting calls on the government to review the aims, tools, and resource use in the mental health action plan and present a mid-term evaluation to the Storting by the end of 2027. (Majority proposal from the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, and Red Party)
The Storting calls on the government to present an updated and strengthened mental health action plan, based on a mid-term evaluation, which should include: a concrete plan for increased resources; management measures ensuring mental health does not lose out in competition for health authority resources; specific measures to reduce waiting times for children and young people; steps to strengthen low-threshold municipal services and follow-up after treatment; securing increased inpatient beds for mental health care; ensuring development of decentralized services through district psychiatric centers; further expansion and strengthening of ACT and FACT teams; and measures to strengthen mental health services in schools and lower the threshold for seeking help. (Majority proposal from the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, Red Party, and Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to continuously evaluate treatment pathways in mental health care. (Proposal from the Progress Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, Red Party, and Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to significantly strengthen treatment capacity for mental health and substance use disorders, with particular emphasis on more inpatient and long-term beds. (Proposal from the Progress Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, Red Party, and Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to strengthen inpatient treatment for people with substance use disorders and combined substance use and mental health disorders, and to facilitate genuine treatment centers with multidisciplinary teams. (Proposal from the Progress Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, Red Party, and Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to make full use of available capacity and expertise in mental health and substance use services—public, private, and voluntary—and to improve coordination between services. This includes considering reopening or continuing inpatient services and specialist programs that have been shut down despite documented experience and treatment competence. (Proposal from the Progress Party)
The Storting calls on the government to strengthen coordination between municipal services, substance use treatment, and mental health care; increase expertise across services; and strengthen low-threshold municipal services. (Proposal from the Progress Party)
The Storting calls on the government to intensify efforts against unnecessary medication use among people seeking mental health support, emphasizing everyday rehabilitation and everyday coping skills. (Proposal from the Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, Red Party, and Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to prioritize ambulatory mental health care services. (Proposal from the Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to allocate additional national research funding in forthcoming budget processes for research on involuntary mental health measures and use of restraint, and to establish a national competence center for research and innovation on appropriate use of coercion in psychiatry. (Proposal from the Christian Democratic Party)
The Storting calls on the government to pilot and develop a model where mental health is organized as a more coherent treatment chain between municipal services and specialist health services. (Majority proposal from the Labour Party and Socialist Left Party)
The Storting calls on the government to implement measures ensuring coordination and cooperation between municipal services and specialist health services for patients needing mental health support. (Proposal from the Centre Party and Red Party)
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that the mental health action plan places strong emphasis on the link between mental illness and social and economic inequality, and strengthens coordination between social services and mental health support, and to inform the Storting accordingly. (Majority proposal from the Labour Party, Socialist Left Party, Centre Party, and Red Party)