A confidential Rigshospitalet slide links the dismissal of three surgeons to patient safety and experimental surgery. It contradicts the hospital’s earlier explanation that the departures were caused by cooperation problems.
DR reports that it has obtained a document shown at a closed meeting of Region Hovedstaden’s business committee on 26 October 2026. The briefing was given by Rigshospitalet’s director, Rasmus Møgelvang, and deputy director Jannick Brennum. Several politicians who attended have confirmed the document to DR.
According to the slide, the departures were necessary out of concern for patient safety. It also states that the three surgeons had not followed scientific practice for documenting experimental surgery, and had not informed patients about risks and alternatives. The document further says they obstructed the training of colleagues and the observance of patient rights.
The wording conflicts with the hospital’s public account. On 27 October the hospital wrote to DR that it could reject a direct link between the severance agreements and the questions about documentation and experimental surgery. The document has also been described by the trade outlet Dagens Medicin.
How the case at Rigshospitalet started
The case began in early October 2026, when five surgeons in the department for Transplantation and Digestive Diseases wrote to management about patient safety. Three of them were sent home on 8 October, according to Sundhedspolitisk Tidsskrift, and severance agreements were later reached after negotiations with the senior doctors’ union Overlægeforeningen. The two other surgeons have since resigned.
Overlægeforeningen’s chair, Bjarne Hjaltalin, says he is deeply shaken by the hospital’s handling of the case. Per his account to DR, the accusations in the document were never part of the personnel cases the union handled. The union has asked for a meeting with Region Hovedstaden’s management about how such cases are handled.
Regional politicians also reject the hospital’s version. Jacob Rosenberg from the Conservatives and Tormod Olsen from Enhedslisten told Sundhedsmonitor that they were not the ones who raised experimental surgery. Surgeons in the national Pancreas Cancer Group, led by Claus Fristrup, have told DR that the procedure in question is established rather than experimental.
Deadlines on 19 and 20 November
Rigshospitalet declined an interview but maintains in writing that the reason for the departures has not changed. The hospital points to long-running disagreement about the department’s professional and organizational development. It adds that it had not expected public debate about a confidential briefing, and that it did not separate clearly enough which issues related to the departures.
Region Hovedstaden must reply by 19 November 2026 on whether the department can still handle pancreatic cancer operations and liver transplants as the only site in Denmark. An extraordinary business committee meeting has been called for Friday 20 November. The external review of whether scientific practice was breached has not yet begun.
The national health authority, Sundhedsstyrelsen, had already asked how the pancreatic operations could continue after the five surgeons left. The region’s reply stated that only one surgeon holds the required qualifications for the 182 annual operations, as reported by Daily Northern citing DR in October 2026. Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed has asked how patient safety and treatment quality will be maintained.
What the Rigshospitalet case means for internationals using Danish hospitals
Everyone registered with a CPR number and a yellow health card has access to public hospital treatment in Denmark. Specialist surgery is not available everywhere, because Sundhedsstyrelsen’s specialty plan concentrates the most complex procedures at a small number of hospitals. For an overview of referrals and the role of your GP, see our guide to healthcare in Denmark.
Pancreatic cancer surgery and liver transplants are carried out only at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, which makes the department relevant for patients across the country, including foreign residents. No decision to move or suspend those treatments has been announced by the region or the authorities in the sources reporting this case. What the department can still deliver is exactly the question the region must answer by 19 November 2026.
