Hospitals miss treatment deadlines

Danish hospitals struggle to meet the treatment guarantee of 60 days, which is expected to shorten to 30 days after the new year. Patients awaiting knee or hernia surgeries face average waits of 77 and 75 days. The normal guarantee was extended to 60 days since February 2023 following COVID-19 and a nursing strike and will revert in 2025. The guarantee allows treatment at private hospitals if public wait times are too long. There’s criticism over the lack of individual procedure wait time monitoring. Despite some patients postponing their surgeries, average wait times have decreased slightly, with the government implementing a two-billion emergency plan to improve the situation. Health Minister Sophie Løhde states that many patients still wait too long, but actions are being taken to meet targeted wait times.