If a patient, that has a booked appointment to receive vaccination against covid-19 has refused the vaccine that has been offered, Kalmar Regional Council has charged a fee for missed visits pursuant to chapter 17, section 1 of the Health and Medical Services Act.

The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman states that the complainant did not miss an appointment but arrived as expected but declined the vaccine that was offered. According to the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman the situation cannot be considered to be included in the wording "absent from agreed visits", pursuant to the act, as it refers to when a patient has not shown up at all. In addition, the patient has not been informed in advance about which vaccine the patient would be offered, and there are different vaccines with partly different effects against the virus and different risks. Against this background, it can not be considered compatible with the basic requirements within the health care service on voluntariness, information and participation that a patient who refuses a certain vaccine is subject to a fee.

The Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman is therefore critical of the fact that Kalmar Regional Council has in fact charged a fee for patients who showed up at a set appointment but refused the vaccine that was offered.