The Danish government, Danske Regioner and KL presented an acute plan for child and adolescent psychiatry on September 25, 2026, intended to give children and young people faster access to treatment.
Health Minister Ida Auken of the Social Democrats presented the plan together with the regions and the municipalities. According to DR, the three parties want children and young people to receive psychiatric help more quickly.
The agreement carries a total financial framework of 1 billion kroner through 2028, according to Danske Regioner. The money is earmarked for bringing down waiting times in child and adolescent psychiatry.
DR reports that the measures include increased capacity and the involvement of more professional groups. The plan also covers recruitment and retention of staff, longer opening hours, and greater use of private providers.
JydskeVestkysten adds that evenings and weekends are to be used as part of the effort to reduce psychiatric waiting times. The aim is to make more appointment slots available outside normal daytime hours.
Municipal help earlier in the process
Per Danske Regioner, municipal early-help services are to be strengthened under the agreement. The intention is that children and young people can be helped closer to everyday life, before specialist psychiatric care becomes necessary.
Berlingske reports that municipal services are to be able to help children and young people who show symptoms of ADHD and autism. That task currently sits with the regional psychiatric system in many cases.
As reported by DR, children and young people wait an average of 167 days for a psychiatric assessment. The figure is cited in the coverage of the new plan and is the central problem the agreement is meant to address.
The plan was presented by Auken together with Danske Regioner chair Mads Duedahl and KL chair Peter Rahbæk Juel. DR notes that the three parties stand behind the agreement jointly, covering both the state, the five regions and the 98 municipalities.
Waiting times and capacity in the psychiatric system have been the subject of repeated political attention in Denmark, including cases of failures in psychiatric care. The new plan is framed by the parties as an acute response rather than a full reform.
DR is following the presentation in a live blog. Further details on how the funds are distributed between the regions and the municipalities were not set out in the initial coverage.
