How to complain

You can complain about your own treatment.

You can also complain about another person’s treatment. You can do this as a relative, lawyer or an association, for example.

If you want to complain as a relative or an association on behalf of someone else, you need a power of attorney from this person.

• If you want to complain to the Danish Patient Complaints Agency, you can use this power of attorney.

• If you want to complain to the psychiatric services in Central Denmark Region, you must use this power of attorney.

Young people over 15 years of age 

If you are 15 years old or older, you can complain about your treatment yourself.
As the parent (with custody) of a child who has turned 15, you can complain about your child’s treatment. If your complaint is to the psychiatric services, you just need to enclose a power of attorney from your child.

Children under 15 years of age 

As the parent (with custody) of a child, you can complain about your child’s treatment. Special rules apply if your complaint is about the use of coercive interventions. Read more under “Complaints about use of coercive interventions by the psychiatric services”.

If you want to complain about healthcare treatment or the violation of your patient rights or those of your child, you must complain to the Danish Patient Complaints Agency. The Danish Patient Complaints processes and decides complaints about the healthcare services.

Treatment 

• Here are some examples of what you can complain about:
• Consultations and examinations
• The process of finding out what is wrong with you (diagnosis)
• Your treatment
• Rehabilitation
• Your general care
• Keeping of medical records
• Informed consent to treatment

Violation of patient rights

Here are some examples of what you can complain about:

• Access to patient records etc.
• Healthcare professionals’ duty of confidentiality
• Healthcare professionals’ preparation of declarations
• Free choice of hospital
• Right to quick assessment of your condition and treatment

When you complain to the Danish Patient Complaints Agency, an independent authority will decide whether there are grounds for criticising the treatment that you have received. You can read more about this option at www.stpk.dk/en/

You can complain to the Psychiatric Patients’ Complaints Board if you want to complain about the use of coercive interventions during hospitalisation on a psychiatric ward.

Coercive interventions are interventions used without your consent.

Coercive interventions 

You can complain about:

• Compulsory admission
• Compulsory detention
• Being brought back to a psychiatric ward by the police
• Forced treatment
• Forced immobilisation
• Use of physical force, including administering of sedatives
• Protective immobilisation
• Use of personal alarm and tracking systems and special door locks
• Personal shielding for a continuous period of more than 24 hours
• Locking of doors on the ward

Patient adviser 

If, during your hospitalisation, you are subjected to coercive interventions, a patient adviser must be assigned to you.
Among other things, the patient adviser can guide you if you want to complain. There are no special requirements as regards the format of the complaint. It may be oral or in writing.
The unit where you have been treated is then obliged to ensure that your complaint is passed on to the Psychiatric Patients’ Complaints Board.
You can read more about your right to complain about the use of coercive interventions by the psychiatric services at the website of the Psychiatric Patient Complaints Board.

• Danish Patient Complaints Agency: See deadlines on the agency’s website
• Psychiatric Patient Complaints Board: There is no deadline for when you must submit your complaint.
• Psychiatric services of Central Denmark Region (hospital): There is no deadline for when you must submit your complaint.
  

All patients are covered by a public patient compensation scheme managed by the Patient Compensation Association (Patienterstatningen). The scheme covers any injury you may suffer in the course of your treatment.

For more information, see the Patient Compensation Association’s website