On Friday 24 October 2025, the Government of Luxembourg announced it is continuing its strategy for an innovative, efficient and accessible healthcare system, with sustainable and transparent funding, as recommended in the coalition agreement.
According to the Ministry of Health and Social Security, it is undertaking a significant reform aimed at expanding outpatient medical services and opening specialist ambulatory care to the private sector and to reduce waiting times at hospital facilities, the draft law amending the Hospital Act[1] will be revised to extend outpatient care provision to certain lower-complexity surgical procedures, particularly in dermatology and ophthalmology.
The ministry noted that, currently, the Hospital Act already allows, through additional outpatient care sites within a hospital, the establishment of services such as dialysis, medical imaging, oncology and non-surgical day hospital care. Authorities will update this list progressively to include other areas of care. These will be defined in close collaboration with the relevant specialist medical professions.
The ministry said that the experiences gained will inform the drafting of a bill designed to regulate a broader opening of hospital sector activities to the private sector. The aim is to make the healthcare system more efficient by transforming and adapting it to observed realities, based on innovation, medical quality, patient safety and the accountability of healthcare actors.
In the short term, the government will allow these specialist medical services to be provided outside the hospital setting, in a secure medical environment. This approach will enable the implementation and evaluation of new organisational and territorial models of care, adapted to the needs arising from medical innovations and progress, providing patients with closer and more accessible outpatient care.
The ministry added that general practice will be strengthened structurally to consolidate primary care. The government will support the development of group medical practices as well as primary care facilities providing local medical services with extended hours. A specific funding framework will be established to compensate for these extended services, helping to reduce pressure on emergency departments and ensuring rapid access to first-line care.
Within this framework, the government will also finalise the establishment of a legal framework for medical companies.
These measures constitute an important first step towards a wider opening of medical services to the private sector in order to:
• support territorial equity in access to care;
• ensure shorter journeys and reduced waiting times for patients;
• promote the attractiveness and efficiency of general practice;
• improve access to specialist care by relocating certain hospital-based activities to outpatient structures in the private sector;
• relieve pressure on hospitals to strengthen their role in specialised and multidisciplinary care for more complex pathologies;
• establish complementarity between the hospital and private sectors.
The government highlighted its commitment to fully exploit the potential of outpatient care and to significantly increase its role in the healthcare system. Martine Deprez, Minister of Health and Social Security, emphasised: "We are pursuing new pathways for our healthcare system: medical services that are closer, more flexible while maintaining high standards of quality and safety. The organisation of care is evolving, with the consequent aim of expanding services for patients and modernising our healthcare system by strengthening private practice for physicians.”
