The National Association of Medicare Physicians, the nation’s largest health insurer Germanypropose impose fines of up to 40 euros on patients who fail to attend their medical appointmentsThe idea is to penalize them if they do not have a justification for their absence. Even if this fine could rise to 100 euros if it becomes a recurring practice.
In Spain there is currently no common regulation, but the data is worrying. Only In Andalusia, almost three million medical appointments were lost in 2023However, the Ministry of Health is not in favour of imposing fines for failure to comply with a summons without prior notice.
Although the decision to sanction or not depends on each autonomous community. In Spain, Only in Navarre are measures being taken when it happens. In the Foral Community, only in the first quarter of 2024, More than 44,000 appointments were lost. Reasons include not having received notification, which is claimed by more than a quarter of those affected; while 14% admit to having forgotten and 11% that an unforeseen event occurred which prevented them from attending their medical appointment.
Unlike Germany, In Navarre the sanctions are not economicbut those who do not show up for their appointment without explanation will lose their seniority on the waiting list.
“We are preventing patients who are on waiting lists from being able to take advantage of this loophole,” says Angela Hernandez, secretary general of AMYTS. For their part, patients understand that these fines are imposed because, whoever does not show up, “prevents another person from exercising this right (of Public Health).”It is a respectful gesture “for me and for the other,” one woman points out, while another says that calling to warn costs nothing and, “otherwise, the system becomes saturated and everything gets worse.”
In conclusion, being aware of notifying your absence from the medical appointment is essential in a saturated system where The waiting lists are only increasing.
