My Rights as a Patient

For patients

Information about your rights as a patient at hospitals in Denmark

1. Right to receive information

As a patient, you have the right to be kept fully informed about your illness and treatment.

This information should cover for instance:

• what you are suffering from,
• which medically sound forms of treatment are available,
• what complications and side effects an examination or treatment may involve,
• which options are available for prevention and care,
• what the consequences may be if you do not wish to receive treatment.

You also have the right to decline such information.

Information for young people

If you are aged between 15 and 18, you have the right to be informed in person about your illness and treatment. Usually, your parents should also receive this information, but a decision on how much they will be told will be made based on your individual situation. This will include considerations regarding the severity of your illness, the type of treatment and your level of maturity as well as any need to follow up treatment in your home.

2. Free hospital choice

When you are referred for evaluation, examination, or treatment at a hospital, you can freely choose which of the public hospitals or selected specialized hospitals in Denmark you wish to be referred to. This is your free hospital choice, and your general practitioner will send your referral to the public hospital of your choice.

Information on waiting times

Information on waiting times for the treatment of specific illnesses may be Advisor. Talk to your doctor about your choice of hospital and let him or her advice you on your choice. This is the best way to ensure a satisfactory solution.

Referrals

Your doctor must refer you to your hospital of choice. Please note that if your condition deteriorates, your doctor is entitled to decide whether your referral should be changed. The hospital will then be able to bring forward your treatment if this is practically possible.

Using Your Right to Free Hospital Choice

If you wish to exercise your right to free hospital choice, it is recommended that you select your preferred hospital before undergoing your preliminary examination. This is because some hospitals may not accept the results of preliminary examinations performed at other hospitals.

Extended Free Hospital Choice

If you have been referred to for treatment at a hospital in your region, your right to free hospital choice is extended if you must wait more than 30 days for treatment. In that case, you are entitled to choose treatment at a private hospital or clinic in Denmark, or at a hospital abroad that has entered into a special agreement with the Danish regions.

Please be aware that the extended rule of free choice only applies to certain types of treatment.

You can read more about this on Sundhed.dk

3. Maximum waiting times

There are special rules governing how long you may have to wait for examinations and treatment, if cancer or certain heart diseases are suspected.
If you are referred to a hospital that cannot meet the maximum waiting times, the hospital is obligated to refer you to another hospital, either in Denmark or abroad, on its own initiative.

You can read more about the maximum waiting times on the Danish Health Authority's website, sundhedsstyrelsen.dk.

4. Advice from the Patient Office for Region of Southern Denmark

Patient counsellors are available at the Patient Office at the central administration of the Region of Southern Denmark, located in Vejle.

The main task of the patient counsellors is to support the patient and provide citizens with information about the healthcare system, including:

• patients' rights
• investigation of misunderstandings
• guidance on complaints and compensation options
• the free hospital choice
• waiting times

The Patient Office (Patientkontoret)
Regionshuset
Damhaven 12
7100 Vejle
Tlf.: 7663 1490
E-mail: patientkontoret@rsyd.dk
www.regionsyddanmark.dk

5. Transport to and from hospital

Generally, you are responsible for arranging and paying for your own transport to and from the hospital. However, there are several exceptions: in some cases, financial assistance may be available for transport, or transportation may be provided.
Special rules apply to pensioners.

A special booklet on transport, Transport til og fra sygehuset (Transport to and from the Hospital ) provides detailed information about the rules for hospital transport and travel expenses.

For more information, please visit the website of the Region of Southern Denmark at www.regionsyddanmark.dk.

Transport in connection with Free Hospital Choice

If you choose to be treated at a hospital outside your local region, and your doctor does not consider it necessary for your treatment, you will need to arrange and pay for your own transport, either in full or in part.

Any reimbursement will be made according to the rules for travel allowance to the nearest hospital that could have provided the treatment.

6. Consent

As a patient, it is your decision whether an examination or treatment should proceed, even if only one treatment option is available.

If there are any changes to your treatment, or if new information becomes available, you you have the right to receive updated information. You must give your consent for the treatment to continue or be changed.

You may withdraw your consent at any time. However, in case of an immediate life-threatening need for treatment, a doctor or another health professional may examine and treat you without your prior consent for example, if you are unconscious and unable to provide consent.

Consent to treatment of children

As parents, you have the opportunity, in consultation with the healthcare staff, to decide which treatment is best for your child.

Almost any type of treatment or examination will be presented to you as an option, and your decision should be based on information and discussion. You are therefore encouraged to ask questions about the possible consequences of the treatment, as well as anything you are unsure about.

Consent from young people

If you are between 15 and 18 years old, you have the right to make your own decisions and must provide your own consent.

However, your parents must also be involved in your decision. If you are unable to understand the full consequences of your decision, your custodial parent will decide on your behalf. It is the responsibility of the healthcare professional to assess whether you are able to understand the situation yourself.

Consent by next of kin

If a person is permanently unable to give their consent—for example, in certain cases of severe dementia—another person must receive information about the patient’s health and make decisions on their behalf. The patient should still be involved as much as possible in decisions regarding examinations and treatment.

In such cases, the representative is usually the patient’s next of kin, such as a cohabiting spouse or partner, children, or other relatives. However, this person does not have to be a family member; anyone who is particularly close to the patient may be considered. The healthcare professionals responsible will assess each situation individually.

7. Duty of Confidentiality

All employees in the Danish public sector are bound by a duty of confidentiality regarding any personal or health-related information obtained in the course of their work. This means that information you provide about such matters must not be shared with others. This rule applies to all healthcare professionals, including those who are self-employed or privately employed, such as general practitioners and physiotherapists.

However, if your treatment involves multiple healthcare professionals or takes place at different locations, necessary information about your health may be shared with those providing your ongoing care. The same applies if you are receiving continuous treatment from your own doctor.

You have the right to object to the sharing of your information.

Because of the duty of confidentiality, as a next of kin you are only entitled to receive information about another person’s health, such as your spouse, if that person has given their consent for such disclosure.

Exceptions

Information may be shared with other parties, such as authorities or insurance providers, if:

• You have given written consent for certain information to be shared.
• Sharing the information is required by law; or
• It is deemed necessary to protect your own welfare or that of others.

Electronic information about your health

Any doctor, midwife, nurse, social and healthcare assistant, or radiographer involved in your treatment has the right to access electronic information about your health and other confidential information, provided it is necessary for your treatment.

Other healthcare professionals have similar rights, but this is limited to accessing electronic information from the department with which you are associated. This information, which will be treated confidentially, may be used, for example, for training junior doctors or for initiatives to improve the quality of hospital services.

You also have the right to request that no electronic information about you be accessed during your treatment.

8. Access to your medical records

Your medical records must include all relevant information regarding why you sought medical assistance, your diagnosis, the cause of your illness, prescribed medications, the results of any examinations, and details of any surgeries. Records must also include information about your treatment and your consent to that treatment.

You can ask the healthcare professional providing your treatment to let you view your records or give you a copy. A healthcare professional can also help you interpret the contents of your records if you wish.

Your right to access your medical records applies only if you are 15 years or older. Other people are not allowed to view your records without your permission. In general, parents may view the records of children under 18, while other close relatives, such as married partners, do not automatically have the right to access each other’s records.

If you request access to your medical records, you are entitled to receive a response within 7 working days.

Your Digital Medical Records (the Sundhedsjournal)

Information from your medical records related to any treatments you have received in hospitals or through mental health services will be transferred to your digital medical records, the Sundhedsjournal.

In your medical records, you can view the health data that the public healthcare system has registered about you. This includes, among other things, visits to the emergency room, contact information for your general practitioner, medications you have purchased, laboratory results, an overview of your visits to doctors or specialists, and details of the treatments you have received.

Your Sundhedsjournal is available at sundhed.dk. You can log in using MitID.

Deaths

After a death, next of kin may contact the hospital to receive information about the course of the illness, the cause of death, and the circumstances of passing. This applies if the deceased did not object to the disclosure of such information.

9. Patient Responsible Doctor

A patient responsible doctor (in Danish, Patientansvarlig læge ) is the doctor with the overall responsibility for a patient's treatment.

The patient responsible doctor is offered to patients who need extra coordination and an overview of their care.

The Patient responsible doctor is for you if you:

• are being examined or treated in multiple departments and/or hospitals
• have more than one medical condition
• are frequently in the hospital or require long-term hospitalization
• are undergoing a prolonged course of treatment due to difficulties in finding the correct diagnosis or treatment
• experience complications related to a chronic illness
• have cancer

The purpose of having a patient responsible doctor is to provide you, as a patient, with continuous and coordinated experience throughout your course of treatment.

The Patient responsible doctor will have overall responsibility for your clinical care.

During your treatment, you will meet other doctors who are responsible for specific aspects of your care. If major decisions need to be made regarding your treatment, your patient responsible doctor will be involved.

10. Living will/Treatment Will

By creating a living will while you are healthy and able, you can ensure that doctors respect your wishes regarding treatment if you become terminally ill and are no longer able to communicate them yourself.

As long as you are fully conscious and able to express your wishes in person, these wishes take precedence and must be followed by doctors. A living will only come into effect when doctors and next of kin are no longer able to communicate with you.

Contents of a living will

In a living will, you indicate whether you wish to receive treatment if death is inevitable and the treatment would only prolong your life.

You have the option to refuse any life-sustaining treatment in situations where you are incapacitated and there is no hope of improvement.

A living will does not constitute euthanasia.

If you already have a living will, you can choose to keep it or convert it into a treatment will. A treatment will offers more options than a living will and is more legally binding on healthcare professionals.

Submitting and Revoking a Living Will / Treatment Will

If you have a digital signature (MitID) you can create a living will or treatment will via www.sundhed.dk.

If you do not have a digital signature, you can create a living will or treatment will by completing a form, which is included with the leaflet Behandlingstestamente (Treatment Will).

The completed form should be sent to the Living Will Register:

Sundhedsdatastyrelsen
Behandlingstestamenteregisteret
Ørestads Boulevard 5
2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark

You can revoke a living will at any time. This can be done in several ways:

• by writing a letter to the Living Will Register
• by expressing this verbally to a healthcare professional
• by electronic revocation to the Living Will Register via Sundhed.dk, if you have a digital signature (MitID).

11. Organ donation

In Denmark, organs may only be used for transplantation with the consent of the patient or their next of kin. Any person aged 18 or older has the right to decide whether their organs can be used for transplantation in the event of brain death.

If you have not made a decision or have not expressed your wishes in writing or verbally, your next of kin will be asked to make the decision in the given situation.

There are three ways to express your wishes regarding organ donation:

• tell your next of kin how you feel about this
• complete a donor card
• register with The Donor Register ( Donorregistret )

You can join The Donor Register online at www.sundhed.dk.

At www.sundhed.dk, you can also find more information about organ donation.

12. Complaints

Danish Agency for Patient Complaints

The Danish Agency for Patient Complaints ( Styrelsen for Patientklager ) is an independent and impartial authority that handles all types of complaints about treatment in the Danish healthcare system.

You can file a complaint if you are dissatisfied with your treatment or feel that your rights as a patient during admission have been violated by law. Next of kin may also file a complaint on behalf of a deceased patient.

Complaints about treatment processes and complaints about non-compliance with patient rights are handled by the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints.

Complaints regarding the professional conduct of individual healthcare professionals are decided by the Health Service’s Disciplinary Board ( Sundhedsstyrelsens Disciplinærnævn ), which is part of the Agency for Patient Complaints.

For more information on your options for complaining, please visit the website of the Agency for Patient Complaints on stpk.dk.

Time Limits and Complaint Process

Patients should be aware of two important deadlines for filing complaints:

1. You must submit your complaint within two years after you have become, or should have become, aware of the issue you are complaining about.

2. The complaint must be submitted to the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints ( Styrelsen for Patientklager ) no later than five years from the day the issue occurred.

If you are complaining about a decision regarding patient rights (e.g., waiting times), you must submit your complaint within four weeks of the decision being made.

Within four weeks of submitting your complaint, you will be invited to participate in a dialogue with the hospital. This dialogue is offered as a service to help clarify the issues raised in your complaint.

The dialogue may take place by telephone, letter, email, or in a face-to-face meeting. You are welcome to bring a relative or another person with you. After the dialogue, you must decide whether you wish to maintain your complaint.

If you need help filing a complaint

If you need help submitting a complaint, you can contact the hospital, the Patient Office for Region of Southern Denmark, or make a direct inquiry to the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints ( Styrelsen for Patientklager ).

To submit a complaint, you must use a special Complaints Form. This form is available from the hospital or the Regional Patient Office. Addresses and phone numbers are listed at the back of this booklet.

The form can also be downloaded from the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints’ website at stpk.dk.

If you have a digital signature (MitID), you can also complete the form online at borger.dk.

Please note that the Danish Agency for Patient Complaints and the Health Service’s Disciplinary Board cannot award compensation.

If you are seeking compensation, this is handled by the Patient Compensation Association ( Patienterstatningen ). For more information, see section 14, “Compensation.”

Complaints about hospital service

Service-related complaints concern the conduct of staff, the hospital environment, service quality, meals, or other aspects of your stay or outpatient visit.

If you have a service-related complaint, you can submit it to any of the following:

• the management of the hospital department you have been in contact with
• the management at the hospital in question
• the Patient Office for Region of Southern Denmark

Remember to include your name, address, telephone number, or email address so that you can be contacted for follow-up.

13. Adverse events

As a patient or next of kin, you are entitled to report an adverse event that has occurred at the hospital.

An adverse event is any incident that was unexpected or did not occur as planned, and which, due to inadequate or flawed safety measures, led to a patient being injured or put at risk of injury.

Patients and next of kin are often the first to notice when something is about to go wrong or when an error occurs. By learning from these experiences, hospitals can take steps to prevent similar incidents from happening again. It is therefore important that hospitals are informed about any errors or adverse events.

On the website of the Danish Patient Safety Authority ( Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed ), stps.dk, you will find an online form for reporting adverse events.

The form includes instructions, and you can also read more about the reporting process and adverse events.

14. Compensation

Compensation for injury caused by treatment

If you suffer a physical injury in connection with any examination or treatment at a hospital in Denmark, you are entitled to seek compensation from the Patient Compensation Association ( Patienterstatningen ).

Patients who are referred by a public hospital to receive treatment at a private hospital or clinic, either in Denmark or abroad, are also entitled to seek compensation from the Patient Compensation Association.

Similarly, you are entitled to seek compensation if you suffer an accident during treatment at the hospital, provided that the accident occurs on hospital premises.

However, this only applies if the hospital can be held liable for damages under the general rules of tort law. You are not entitled to compensation solely because the outcome of the treatment did not meet your expectations.

You must report any injury within three years of becoming aware of it, and no later than ten years from the date the injury occurred.

Separate rules apply for organ donors and healthy research subjects.

Compensation for injury caused by medication

Denmark has a special compensation scheme for patients suffering physical injury because of using medication. This compensation scheme applies to cases of physical injury caused by medication dispensed to the patient.

You cannot receive compensation for injuries resulting from the medication being ineffective against your illness.

Any injury caused by medication must be reported within three years of when you became aware of it.

Notification

If you wish to seek compensation, you must notify The Patient Compensation Association of your injury by using an official Notification Form. This form is available from the hospital and the Patient Office for Region Syddanmark, or by downloading from the website of the Danish Patient Compensation Association, Patienterstatningen.dk.

15. Websites with more information

Regionsyddanmark.dk

At the website of Region Syddanmark (Region of Southern Denmark), www.regionsyddanmark.dk, under the "Health" section, you can find information about the different parts of the healthcare system, including your options and rights as a patient.

Sygehussonderjylland.dk

On the website of Sygehus Sønderjylland, you can find information about the hospital and its departments, including contact details for hospital management, heads of departments, and other relevant staff.

Ism.dk

The Ministry of Interior and Health website provides useful links, for example to the National Board of Health’s information on medications and reimbursement of medication costs.

Go to the website of the Ministry of Interior and Health, Ism.dk.

Sundhed.dk

On Sundhed.dk, you can access your own health data, the Patient Handbook, information about organ donation and treatment wills, an overview of the Danish healthcare system, and contact information for general practitioners, specialists, physiotherapists, dentists, and other healthcare providers. You can also find contact details for emergency services, hospital departments, pharmacies, and more.

If you must wait longer than 30 days for an evaluation or treatment, you are entitled to extended free hospital choice . If you have received an appointment letter, Sundhed.dk provides information about available options for evaluation or treatment at private hospitals.

Esundhed.dk

At www.esundhed.dk you will find information on waiting times for treatment of selected diseases.

16. Useful contacts and addresses

The Patient Office (Patientkontoret)
Regionshuset
Damhaven 12
7100 Vejle
Tlf. 76 63 14 90
E-mail: patientkontoret@rsyd.dk
www.regionsyddanmark.dk

Hospital of Southern Denmark (Sygehus Sønderjylland) – Aabenraa
Kresten Philipsens Vej 15
6200 Aabenraa
Tlf. 7997 0000
E-mail: shs.kontakt@rsyd.dk
www.sygehussonderjylland.dk

Hospital of Southern Denmark (Sygehus Sønderjylland) – Sønderborg
Sydvang 1
6400 Sønderborg
Tlf. 7997 0000
E-mail: shs.kontakt@rsyd.dk
www.sygehussonderjylland.dk

Hospital of Southern Denmark (Sygehus Sønderjylland) – Tønder
Carstensensgade 6
6270 Tønder
Tlf. 7997 0 00
E-mail: shs.kontakt@rsyd.dk
www.sygehussonderjylland.dk

Danish Agency for Patient Complaints (Styrelsen for Patientklager)
Oluf Palmes Allé 18H
8200 Århus N
Tlf. 7233 0500
E-mail: stpk@stpk.dk
www.stpk.dk

The Patient Compensation Association (Patienterstatningen)
Kalvebod Brygge 45
1560 København V
Tlf. 3312 4343
E-mail: pebl@patienterstatningen.dk
www.patienterstatningen.dk  

pinfoSHS-1788412887-32 118756   |   19.10.2026