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HEALTH

Three Swedish regions hike cost of visiting a doctor

From the start of January, the patient fees for a doctor's visit were increased in three Swedish regions, according to the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR).

Published: 10 January 2020 15:03 CET
Three Swedish regions hike cost of visiting a doctor
In Sweden, healthcare costs vary depending on where in the country you live. Photo: Isabell Höjman / TT

In Sweden, the 21 regions are responsible for healthcare, which means fees as well as things like waiting times vary depending on where in the country you live.

In the Sörmland region, it was previously free to visit a primary care doctor, but as of 2019 there is a cost of 200 kronor.

And in the Uppsala and Örebro regions, the fee for a doctor's appointment was raised from 150 to 200 kronor.

Örebro also raised the fee for visiting a specialist, from 280 to 300 kronor, while in Uppsala this kind of visit has got cheaper after a reduction of the fee from 330 to 260 kronor.

In the rest of Sweden's regions, the cost of a trip to the doctor remains the same as in 2018.

It is also possible to get medical assistance through a digital appointment, and the fees for this range from 100 to 300 kronor, again depending on the region.

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HEALTH

When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

General Practitioners in Denmark have the right to break off a patient-doctor relationship in specific circumstances.

Published: 1 August 2024 16:35 CEST
When can doctors in Denmark refuse to continue treating patients?

Although doctors in Denmark have the right to decide not to continue treating a patient – requiring them to find a new GP – the circumstances in which this can happen are limited, and must be approved by health authorities.

The frequency in which the circumstances arise is also low. A doctor decided to no longer receive a patient on 375 occasions in 2016, according to the medical professionals’ journal Ugeskrift for Læger. The following year, newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported the figure at 458.

There are two main categories of circumstances in which a doctor can choose to take this step. The first is in instances of violent or threatening behaviour from the patient towards the doctor. 

The second (and most common) is when the doctor considers the relationship to have deteriorated to the extent that confidence has broken down, according to Ugeskrift for Læger.

It should be noted that patients are not bound by any restrictions in this regard, and can decide to change their GP without having to give any justification.

A patient also has the right to appeal against a doctor’s decision to ask them to find a new GP. This is done by appealing to the local health authority, called a Region in the Danish health system.

In such cases, a board at the regional health authority will assess the claim and if it finds in favour of the patient may order the doctor to attempt to repair the relationship.

Doctors cannot end a relationship with a patient purely because a patient has made a complaint about them to health authorities. This is because patients should have the option of making complaints without fear of consequences for their future treatment. 

However, if this is accompanied by the conclusion on the doctor’s part that there is no longer confidence in them on the part of the patient, they can remove the patient from their list.

The right to no longer see patients in the circumstances detailed above is provided by doctors’ collective bargaining agreements, the working conditions agreed on between trade unions and employer confederations under the Danish labour market system.

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