Bringing in staff from abroad, transferring them to private hospitals, and more are included in the government's emergency plan for the health sector.

The new government, SVM, called on Friday morning for its first press conference on the healthcare file, which is witnessing a long list of challenges, starting with the large shortage of nurses and staff, passing through the long intervals between appointments that patients get, and reaching the work of departments in Danish public hospitals under great pressure, including the overcrowding of emergency departments.

The press conference was attended by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and Minister of the Interior and Health Sophie Löde. Following the conference, the government stated that three areas would represent the government's main priorities until the summer: support for Ukraine, the health sector, and education.

According to the government, the government will prioritize the emergency health plan with a budget of 2 billion kronor, which covers the period 2022-2024.

The government is currently negotiating the emergency package with the regional administrations, and they expect to present the final plan in the coming weeks. The following are the most important points included in the government's plan.:

• The benchmark for the plan's success is reducing the long waiting periods that patients experience when they need treatment in hospitals.
• Private hospitals should play a bigger role in the health sector as the government wants to make extensive use of private hospitals to perform several different types of operations, with the aim of reducing high waiting lists if private hospitals are willing to cut costs.
• 236,740 people were referred for treatment at a private hospital during 2022, representing an increase of 63% compared to 2019.
• A temporary extension of the "treatment guarantee" from 30 to 60 days (currently the patient has the right to be treated in a public hospital within 30 days, otherwise it becomes possible to be treated in a private hospital at the public expense).
• Bringing in more foreign workers to work in the Danish health sector.
• The government will increase the budget related to application processing time to make it easier for foreign workers to obtain work permits to work in hospitals.
• Standardize language requirements for nurses from third countries (so that the requirements are the same as if you were from a European country).
• Hiring more researchers and PhD students to help in hospital departments
• The funds allocated for this emergency package can be used to cover overtime work to complete deferred tasks in hospitals.
• The government will discuss with the Danish regional administrations (Regions) how to strengthen efforts against absenteeism from hospital check-ups and treatments.
• The government will cancel the back pay clearing in 2023 and 2024 for health service employees.
• More people need to be involved in working with or near patients.
• Hospitals must be responsible for the patient's treatment after they have been discharged from the hospital for 72 hours.