[Health care and social planning--priorities or wishes?]

The object of this research project was municipal planning of social services and health care. According to the regulations, the planning process shall result in a plan that gives guidelines for further development in the sector. Through data from a representative selection of Norwegian municipalities, it was found that the formulations of the goals in the plans were vague and unprecise. The plans generally include a long list of proposed new initiatives. There is hardly any evidence of choosing priorities or changing priorities. In their present form, the plans are more like lists of open wishes than tools for decision making. They therefore serve to raise problems rather than work as instruments for deciding priorities.