Patient complaint; submission

Patients have the option of submitting a complaint in the event of problems in connection with medical, dental or psychotherapeutic treatment in Bavaria.

Patients can complain about medical, dental or psychotherapeutic treatment if they feel they have been treated badly or incorrectly or if they believe that their doctor, dentist or psychotherapist has breached medical or therapeutic obligations.

In Bavaria, compliance with the professional obligations of doctors and dentists is monitored by the district medical and dental associations, while compliance with the obligations of contract doctors and contract dentists is monitored by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians of Bavaria and the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Dentists of Bavaria. In Bavaria, compliance with psychotherapeutic professional obligations is monitored by the Chamber of Psychotherapists, while compliance with contractual psychotherapeutic obligations is monitored by the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Bavaria. If there are concrete indications of breaches of professional duties under public law, non-compliance with other provisions of public health law or consumer health protection law, the relevant professional chamber must be informed, which will examine measures in its area of responsibility (e.g. withdrawal of a license to provide further training).

In the event of problems in the treatment relationship, a so-called mediation procedure can also be considered. With the help of a mediator, an attempt is made to resolve the disagreement between the doctor, dentist or psychotherapist and the patient if all parties involved agree. The mediation procedure is carried out by the district medical associations, the district dental associations or the Chamber of Psychotherapists (further information can be found under "Further links").

• Please note that different documents may be required depending on the circumstances of the individual case.
• In any case, you must submit the complaint form, which you can access via the online procedure mentioned above.
• If further documents need to be submitted, the responsible office will ask you to do so.

You feel that you have been treated badly or incorrectly or assume that your doctor, dentist or psychotherapist has breached medical or therapeutic duties.

You can submit the complaint via the online procedure mentioned above. The complaint must contain a description of the specific facts of the case and must name the treating doctor, dentist or psychotherapist.

The patient complaint sent via the online procedure is first sent to the State Ministry of Health, Care and Prevention, which then forwards it to the relevant offices within Bavaria for further processing. The competent authority will then examine your complaint and may request a statement from the doctor, dentist or psychotherapist concerned. To do so, you must release them from their duty of confidentiality. You will receive a corresponding request from the competent authority if required.

By lodging a complaint about a breach of medical, contract medical, dental, contract dental, psychotherapeutic or contract psychotherapeutic obligations, you initiate an examination of the facts of the case by the competent body. As a "third party" not directly involved in the procedure, you have no right to information about the decisions of the competent body vis-à-vis the doctor/dentist or psychotherapist concerned.

It may take several weeks to process your complaint. This applies in particular if the matter concerns the area of responsibility of several bodies (example: in addition to professional law issues, it also concerns billing issues).

The enforcement of claims for damages due to medical malpractice is carried out by bringing an action before the civil courts. This is not replaced by submitting a complaint using the online form provided here.

If you suspect that a doctor has committed malpractice, you can also contact the Bavarian State Medical Association's expert body for medical liability issues. If all parties involved agree, this body will check whether medical standards were adhered to in the specific case and can facilitate an out-of-court settlement. You can find more information on how to apply to the expert body under "Further links".

An arbitration board has been set up at the Bavarian Dental Association. The aim of the proceedings before the arbitration board is to reach an amicable and legally binding settlement of disputes arising from the dental treatment relationship. Information on the arbitration board can be found under "Further links".

In addition, the statutory health insurance funds are obliged to support insured persons in pursuing claims for damages due to treatment errors.