In this episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish recounts a personal incident where her cat, Fluffy, bit her leg, prompting her to use Denmark’s non‑emergency medical line (1813) and receive prompt, tax‑funded emergency care without paperwork, insurance, or payment. She uses this story to illustrate the strengths of the Danish health system—fast, efficient treatment for urgent cases—and then discusses its quirks: long waiting periods for non‑urgent procedures, the need for private insurance or cross‑border treatment to bypass queues, the fact that prescription medication, dentistry, and veterinary care are not covered by public funds, and the cultural tendency to limit antibiotic and pain‑killer prescriptions. Mellish also mentions “dental vacations” to Poland or Hungary as a common cost‑saving measure. The episode closes with promotional information about her book and social media channels.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. I just arrived back in Denmark after a couple of weeks in the USA and The night I got back, my cat bit me. This was not just a little affectionate peck. Fluffy used her sharp teeth, her fangs, to create 4 bleeding puncture wounds in my leg. I suppose it was partly my fault. I put a call on speakerphone. Fluffy doesn't like speakerphone because she can hear a person but she can't see one, so she assumes I'm some sort of evil magician who has put a person inside a little glowing box, and she bites me. So I was bleeding, and I did what I did the last time she bit me, which was a couple of months ago. The last time I used speakerphone, I called 1813, the Danish government's non-emergency line for off-hour medical situations. I waited about five minutes for a nurse to take the call, and she asked me some questions about the size and location of the bite, and whether or not I'd had a tetanus shot recently. I hadn't. So she made an appointment for me at the local emergency room for about an hour later. When I got to the emergency room, there was no human being to greet me, just a very tall machine with a scanner. I scanned my yellow Danish health card and the machine said beep and automatically put me in line according to the seriousness of my injury, which was not all that serious. I waited half an hour or so and then I was seen by Nurse Andrea, who examined the bite and referred me to handsome Dr. Rasmus. Handsome Dr. Rasmus turned out to be the highlight of the evening. He gave me a shot and enough penicillin to last the night. And then he sent me home with a prescription so I could go to the pharmacy and pick up more penicillin, just on the off chance that Fluffy had some bacteria on her small fangs. And that was that, at least until I used speakerphone again. This type of situation is when the Danish healthcare system works well. There are no forms to fill out, No insurance to hassle with. No payment of any kind. In general, the Danish system is excellent with things that have to be handled right away. They're quick and efficient. I've even heard of tourists who say they have broken an ankle in Copenhagen. They come home raving about the healthcare they received. And of course, it's all tax-funded. I hate it when people say that Danish healthcare is free. I pay some very serious taxes for all this free stuff. But the Danish healthcare system does have some quirks. First of all, if something doesn't have to be handled right away, it isn't. If you're looking for knee surgery or sinus operation or getting your varicose veins removed or any other treatment that doesn't require instant action, it can take a very long time. First, your own doctor has to send you to a specialist, and getting an appointment there can take 3 to 6 months. And then after that, you have to wait for an appointment for surgery for another 3 to 6 to 12, sometimes 18 months. The Danish Health Service picks the time and date, and you'd better be there. If you have other plans, they'll give your time to someone else on the waiting list. Now, people who work for big corporations in Denmark sometimes get private health insurance as part of their employee plans. This allows them to jump the line, to go to a private hospital, or get the operation done in Germany or Sweden. In other words, if your condition's not an emergency, the Danish health system isn't particularly speedy. Another quirk is that the Danes are not really into active treatment of minor illnesses. For colds and flu, they like hot tea and hot rum and staying home from work and not really much else. So if there's a medicine from your home country that you find comforting when you get sick, I recommend that you bring it with you to Denmark. Doctors in Denmark are very reluctant to prescribe any kind of antibiotic. Or sleep medication. Or prescription painkiller. If you're in pain, they'll generally just tell you to take ordinary ibuprofen, Advil, or Panadol, Tylenol, that you get at the supermarket. When I gave birth to my daughter, I had a cesarean section, which is, you know, surgery, and that's what I got— ibuprofen and Panadol. You can always ask your doctor for something stronger, but there's no guarantee you're gonna get it, and if you do, you're gonna have to pay for it yourself. That's another quirk of the Danish system. You have to pay for your medication yourself. Medication is not covered by the public health system. Now, you can buy some insurance to help cover the cost or apply for government help if you're really poor, but ultimately it's on you. Another thing not covered by the public health system is dentistry, at least for adults. And going to the dentist is so expensive in Denmark that it's very common for people to go on a dental vacation to Poland or Hungary. Probably not just for an annual checkup, but if you need major dental work, it's often actually cheaper for you and a friend to fly to Krakow or Budapest or even Prague and get your teeth done, and work in a little sightseeing on the side. And of course, animal doctors— veterinarians— are not covered by the Danish health system. So when Fluffy the cat bites me, everything's covered by the tax-funded health system. But if I were to bite Fluffy, it's not. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. Remember that our paperback book is available at howtoliveindenmark.com, and you can download the ebook on Amazon, iTunes, or saxo.com. Come leave a comment at howtoliveindenmark.com, or follow us on Twitter @howtoliveindk, or on Facebook at How to Live in Denmark. See you next time!
