Updates

In 2024, the government appointed a special investigator to examine how a strengthened waiting time guarantee could improve accessibility, continuity and equality of care across the country. The patient’s position was also to be reinforced by expanding opportunities for influence and participation. Regions were expected to exhaust all available options, including offering care in other regions, to meet the waiting time guarantee. The original directives required the investigator to analyze and propose measures that the supervisory authority could take against regions failing to comply with the waiting time guarantee and the Patient Act. However, these measures were not permitted to involve financial sanctions against the regions or costs for patients. To further strengthen patients’ rights under the care guarantee, the investigator has now been given an additional mandate to propose financial sanctions against regions. In October 2025, the assignment was revised to include analyzing and submitting proposals for financial sanctions, along with other appropriate measures that the supervisory authority should gradually implement against regions that fail to comply with the statutory waiting time guarantee and the Patient Act without imposing costs on patients.