Seeing a Doctor in Germany: How Healthcare Works When YOU Are the Patient

The centre of everything: your Hausarzt

Germany's outpatient system is built around the Hausarzt - a general practitioner who becomes your doctor. You have free choice of doctor (freie Arztwahl): pick any practice accepting new public patients, near home or work. Your Hausarzt handles everyday illness, prescriptions, referrals and your sick notes - and knowing you over time is exactly the point. Register with one in your first weeks, while you are healthy - searching for a doctor while sick with a fever, in German, is the avoidable version of this story.

Getting an appointment (and the German rhythm)

Most practices work by appointment (Termin) - booked by phone or, increasingly, online booking platforms where you can even filter for English-speaking doctors. Expect a rhythm that surprises newcomers: morning hours from roughly 8:00–13:00, afternoon hours 15:00–18:00, and many practices closed on Wednesday afternoons. Some Hausarzt practices also run open walk-in hours (Sprechstunde) where you wait your turn. Bring your Gesundheitskarte (health card) to every visit - it is swiped first, before anything else happens.

The one number to save: 116117

Save 116117 in your phone today - it does two jobs. First, it is the appointment service (Terminservicestelle): if you need a specialist and cannot get a slot, this legally-backed service must find you one - within four weeks, faster for urgent referrals from your Hausarzt. Second, outside office hours it becomes the on-call medical service (ärztlicher Bereitschaftsdienst), 24/7: a professional assesses you by phone and either advises you, directs you to an open on-call practice (Bereitschaftspraxis), or in some regions sends a doctor to your home. It is exactly for the "too sick to wait until Monday, but not dying" situations - high fever, vomiting, a bad infection on a Saturday night.

112 vs 116117 - the difference that matters

As a nurse you will grasp this triage instantly - but note the cultural point: Germans genuinely reserve the Notaufnahme (A&E) for real emergencies, and walking in with a cold is frowned upon. Use the system as designed and it works beautifully.

Prescriptions, the e-Rezept and night pharmacies

Public patients now usually receive an e-Rezept (electronic prescription) - the doctor issues it digitally and you collect your medicine at any Apotheke simply by inserting your health card. Two things will feel different from India: many familiar medicines are prescription-only here, and antibiotics are prescribed far more conservatively. At night and on Sundays, pharmacies close - but by law a rotating emergency pharmacy (Notdienst) is always open nearby: every pharmacy door displays the current one, or check aponet.de.

Sick notes, specialists and the practical bits

• If you are too ill to work, your Hausarzt issues the sick note (AU) - the rules and pay are covered in our separate sick-leave guide.
• Most specialists can be booked directly as a public patient, but radiology (MRT/CT) and some others need a referral (Überweisung) from your Hausarzt.
• Video consultations are increasingly covered by public insurance - useful for shift workers.
• In smaller towns, take a German-speaking colleague to your first visit if you are nervous - and remember your B2 gives you a head start most newcomers do not have.