Lung cancer surgery in Denmark

[摘要] The Danish hospital system consists of primary, secondary and tertiary care, as well as private clinics, which can be primary or secondary care. The different cares are structured hierarchically, with more specialised treatment in secondary care and the most specialised treatment in tertiary care. A thorough examination of the hospital system is outside the scope of this article, but the following is an abridged version: in Denmark, partly due to its small size and moderately dense population of 5.8 million, every citizen can have an assigned general physician (GP) within a reasonable distance from their residence. The GP is the primary care. The GP handles approximately 90% of patient contacts in their clinic without a referral, which alleviates the pressure of the hospital system. Patients referred to the department of thoracic surgery, usually start by reporting symptoms or complaints to their GP, although some are chance findings during computed tomography (CT) scans or other imaging for other pathologies. Before referral, the GP diagnoses further with the help of blood samples, X-rays, lung-functioning tests, CT scans, etc. If the diagnosis is unclear or the GP discovers ailments that require specialised care, they then refer to a specialist in the appropriate area. The specialist, which usually works at a hospital, but can be private, will then order supplementary tests. This is the secondary care.

[学科分类] 呼吸医学