Learn about your rights if any of the following situations happen to you in Germany.
- Your doctor recommended a treatment that made your condition worse.
- You found out your doctor broke patient confidentiality.
- You weren’t properly informed about the risks before an operation.
How do you exercise your right when a doctor treated you incorrectly?
The first step is to seek a personal conversation with the doctor or practice. In the best case, the problem or conflict can be resolved this way.
You should be prepared for this conversation.
- Write down exactly what happened, when, and what you believe went wrong.
- Ask the doctor to explain the treatment decisions in detail.
If the conversation with the doctor goes nowhere, it’s time to escalate. But before you contact anyone, do the following.
- Write a detailed account of what happened. A memory log makes sense: who was involved, what happened, when, and where? You should also have copies of all documents that are relevant to the complaint.
- Sign a release from confidentiality. Complaint bodies can only ask doctors for a statement if you, as the patient, have released them from the obligation of confidentiality. This is done via a so-called Schweigepflichtentbindungserklärung, which you should ideally attach directly to your complaint.
- Think through the consequences. If you file a complaint with an official body, your doctor may no longer wish to continue treating you. They can terminate the treatment contract on the grounds that the trust relationship required for it has been damaged. Ensure you have an alternative doctor lined up before you proceed.
Who do you contact to escalate the matter?
There is no single central complaints office in Germany for filing complaints against doctors. You must contact different authorities based on your situation.
Here is an overview of the main options.
- Ärztekammer (Medical Chamber) of your federal state: You should contact them to address violations of professional medical duties. For example, if a doctor broke patient confidentiality or refused to grant access to treatment records. If there is a suspected treatment error, the Ärztekammer also has Schlichtungsstellen (arbitration bodies) you can approach. You can find the Ärztekammer responsible for your region at bundesaerztekammer.de.
- Your health insurance company: Contact your health insurer for problems with prescriptions, sick notes, referrals, and compensation claims arising from treatment errors. Public health insurers are obliged to provide their members with free support. They can commission an independent medical opinion from the Medizinischer Dienst (MD) and coordinate correspondence with doctors and hospitals. Private health insurers also often provide support.
- Kassenärztliche Vereinigung (KV): If a doctor refuses a necessary home visit or declines to treat you without sufficient reason, you can file a complaint with the local Kassenärztliche Vereinigung. The reason is that doctors treating outpatient patients must fulfil the Vertragsärztliche Pflichten (contractual medical obligations).
If you are unsure about who to contact, you can seek advice from one of the following organizations.
- The Unabhängige Patientenberatung Deutschland (UPD)
- Consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale)
- Your health insurance company
They can guide you on whom to contact and which documents to prepare.
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When should you get a lawyer?
You should consult a lawyer specialised in medical liability (Arzthaftungsrecht) in complex cases. A complex case is one in which serious or permanent harm has occurred.
You, as a patient, have the right to compensation if health damage occurs as a result of an avoidable treatment error. However, you must provide proof that the treatment error led to the health damage.
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What counts as a treatment error in Germany?
Not every bad outcome is a treatment error. Doctors cannot guarantee the success of their treatment. They are only obliged to carry out the treatment in accordance with generally accepted professional standards.
Whether a treatment error exists or not is therefore very difficult to assess.
A treatment error exists when a doctor deviates from the recognised standard of their specialty in a way that was avoidable and resulted in harm.
If something went wrong but you are not sure whether it qualifies as an error, the UPD or your health insurer can give you a first assessment at no cost.
