The Danish healthcare system

You can read about the Danish healthcare system in the Info Norden article ‘Right to healthcare services in Denmark’.

General practitioner (GP)

If you live or are staying in Denmark and become ill, you should in the first instance contact a GP.

Persons in health insurance group 1 who are registered as resident in Denmark must be registered with a GP in their municipality of residence.

The GP will ensure you get the treatment you need, and may refer you to specialists or hospitals.

Emergency Medical Service

Outside your doctor’s surgery hours, you can call the Emergency Medical Service, who will assess whether you need to attend the Service’s consultation centre. In special circumstances the duty doctor may visit you in your home.

You can find the contact information for the emergency medical service in the various Regions at borger.dk.

Accident and Emergency

Hospital Accident and Emergency departments deal with serious injuries that your doctor cannot treat, such as broken bones or burns.

A&E departments treat the most serious injuries first, so you may have to wait.

You should usually call before you show up at an A&E department or casualty department. If you need emergency help for a life-threatening illness or injury, call 112.

If you need non-emergency hospital treatment, this will require a referral from a doctor.

You can find the contact information for A&E departments at borger.dk

Find healthcare professionals and treatment sites in Denmark

At sundhed.dk, you can find information about the Danish healthcare system and search for GPs, medical specialists, physiotherapists, dentists, public hospitals, private clinics, pharmacies, etc.

Please note that public subsidy is provided only for certain treatments, and that in some cases the therapist must have entered into an agreement with the Region. This may also determine whether the treatment can be covered by the blue EU health insurance card.

Visits to a doctor and treatment at public hospitals are generally free of charge if you are covered by public health insurance in another Nordic country, or if you have moved to Denmark and are covered by Danish health insurance, although there may be some conditions that you must meet. In other areas, such as physiotherapy or dental care for adults, user co-payment is required.

You must be able to document your right to receive health care under the conditions that apply in Danish public health insurance. The documentation required will depend on whether you are living or working in Denmark, or staying temporarily in the country. You can for example document your right to treatment with the following:

• If you live in Denmark: your health insurance card
• If you live abroad and work in Denmark: the special health card
• If you live in another Nordic country and are staying temporarily in Denmark: identification and proof of residence in the Nordic country concerned. You can also show an EU Health Insurance Card.
• If you are a Danish pensioner residing abroad or a co-insured family member, and Denmark pays your health insurance: your Danish-issued EU health insurance card and information about health insurance conditions.
• If you live in an EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the UK: EU Health Insurance Card or UK Health Insurance Card

General practitioners and public hospitals

There is no charge for visits to GPs in Denmark. However, you will have to pay for certain types of services yourself, including some types of vaccinations and medical certificates. Vaccinations in the Danish children’s vaccination programme are always free.

There is no charge at public hospitals if you are referred for treatment. Emergency hospital treatment does not require a referral.

Dental care for children, young people and adults

Dental treatment is free for children and adolescents until they reach the age of 18. Young people born after 31 December 2003 can receive free dental care until they reach age 22.

Specialists and other healthcare professionals

Treatment by a number of specialised healthcare professionals is free of charge if you have a doctor’s referral for the treatment. No referral is however required to obtain free treatment from ear, nose and throat specialists or ophthalmologists. Also, no referral is required if you are enrolled in insurance group 2.

In the case of referrals to, for example, a chiropractor, podiatrist, psychologist or physiotherapist, you must pay a portion of the price of treatment yourself.

You can read more about insurance groups at borger.dk.