Hospitals in mid-Jutland are from next year going to start fining patients for missing appointments. Two hospitals have said that if a patient misses a scheduled appointment without cancelling beforehand, it will cost them 500 kroner.

Bent Hansen, the head of Dansk Regioner and the Mid-Jutland Council, said some hospitals report that 10 percent of patients fail to show up for scheduled appointments.

“We all pay into the system, so patients should at least be obligated to cancel if they are not going to make an appointment,” Hansen told Berlingske. 

Medical association not onboard
Along with fines, other methods of reminding patients about appointments such as SMS, email and regular post are being implemented. Bispebjerg Hospital has good results with its text messaging system. 

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However, the medical association Lægeforeningen is not convinced that fining patients is the answer.

“There may be situations when there are good reasons for a no-show, so fines are not the complete solution,” Mads Koch Hansen, the president of Lægeforeningen, told Berlingske.