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Treatment for children in Germany starts with confirming the diagnosis: before anything is prescribed, doctors at a specialised children’s hospital establish for themselves what is happening to the child, and only then propose a plan. When a child is ill, parents usually have a long road behind them by the time treatment abroad comes up — examinations, tests, conflicting opinions and the feeling that time is passing while clarity is not coming. What they need from a German hospital is simple and honest: to understand what is really wrong with their child and to get a plan they can trust.
This page explains why children’s medicine is a field of its own, how children are examined, which paediatric specialties exist and how to arrange the trip when the whole family travels. Each specialty is described briefly, with a link to a detailed page. How to choose a hospital for a particular diagnosis is covered separately; the link is further down, at the end of the section on specialties.
Why children are treated in children’s hospitals
Children are treated in children’s hospitals because a child is not a scaled-down adult: drug doses differ, the body tolerates treatment differently, and even normal blood test values change with age. That is why children in Germany are cared for at dedicated children’s hospitals and paediatric departments rather than on adult wards. Everything there is designed for a child, from equipment of the right size, fine needles and small blood-pressure cuffs to devices for newborns. Anaesthesia is given by paediatric anaesthetists, and after major surgery the child is looked after in a paediatric intensive care unit by staff who are used to small patients and know how to explain things so that the child is less afraid.
The second principle is teamwork. A complex case is not managed by one doctor: the paediatrician, the relevant specialists — a paediatric cardiologist, neurologist or oncologist, for example — and, where needed, a paediatric surgeon discuss the child together and agree on a common approach. That lowers the risk of a detail being missed or of treatment continuing out of habit. For parents it means one coordinated plan rather than separate instructions from different doctors that they would otherwise have to piece together themselves.
Parents are part of the process, not visitors. As a rule, a mother or father can stay with the child around the clock: many wards have a bed for a parent in the child’s room, and some hospitals run parents’ houses close by. Parents are included in conversations about treatment and told what is being done and why. Psychologists help the child and the family cope with the strain of illness, and with chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma, child and parents are taught to manage the illness day to day — working out doses, spotting the first signs of a flare-up and knowing when to call the doctor.
Diagnostics in children: accurate and gentle
Diagnostics in children in Germany follow two rules: the doctor checks the diagnosis personally, and chooses the gentlest way of doing so. Reports and scans brought from home are studied carefully, but conclusions are drawn from the hospital’s own findings, with tests repeated or added where necessary. Quite often this refines the diagnosis made at home — it changes the picture of what is causing the illness or how far it has spread — and the treatment plan changes with it. Sometimes the diagnosis is confirmed, and the family gains confidence in the chosen path. Either way the first stage has done its job: the aim is to know for certain, not to start treatment at any price.
Gentleness shows in the choice of methods. Where possible, doctors prefer ultrasound and MRI, which involve no radiation; that matters, because children and adolescents are considerably more sensitive to radiation than adults. Young children often need anaesthesia for an MRI or an endoscopy, so such investigations are combined into a single day where possible, and the child is put to sleep once rather than several times. Which tests are needed depends on the problem — from blood tests and checks of the heart and lungs to endoscopy and biopsy when tissue itself has to be examined. The WHO describes protecting children’s health as being of fundamental importance; in diagnostics, that comes down to a simple rule: nothing superfluous, and no question left unanswered.
Paediatric specialties in Germany
Paediatrics in Germany is divided into dozens of narrower specialties, and the one a child’s illness belongs to decides which specialist and which department take over. Paediatric oncology and haematology treats tumours and blood diseases, and here the country works as a single system: children are usually treated according to standardised treatment plans developed by study groups of the Society for Paediatric Oncology and Haematology (GPOH), and hospitals report cases to the shared German Childhood Cancer Registry. Even a rare diagnosis is therefore not handled in isolation: behind it stands the experience of the whole network of children’s cancer centres. Leukaemia in children is treated to these protocols too — see the page on blood cancer treatment.
Paediatric surgery and orthopaedics cover congenital malformations, operations on newborns and babies in their first months, and deformities of the spine and feet. A paediatric surgeon always bears in mind that the body is still growing: the aim is to fix the problem now without holding back development later. How paediatric orthopaedics in Germany deals with scoliosis, clubfoot or hip dysplasia is explained on a separate page.
Paediatric neurology helps children with epilepsy, developmental delay and diseases of the nerves and muscles. When surgery is needed — for a brain or spinal cord tumour, hydrocephalus, a malformation of the spine or epilepsy that medication cannot control — paediatric neurosurgery joins the treatment. Paediatric cardiology and surgery for congenital heart defects form a large field of their own: many of these defects are operated on in specialised centres in the first weeks or months of life.
Chronic conditions are another large part of paediatrics: juvenile arthritis, diabetes, allergies and asthma. Here the task is not only to find the right therapy but to follow the child for years, so that they can go to school, play sport and grow up without unnecessary restrictions. The specialty also decides the choice of hospital: a child with a heart defect needs one kind of centre, a child with arthritis another. Which hospitals there are and how to choose one for the diagnosis is explained on a separate page, children’s hospitals in Germany.
Frequently asked questions
Can a parent stay in hospital with the child?
Yes, as a rule one parent can stay with the child in hospital day and night. Usually there is a bed for the parent in the child’s room or a room in a parents’ house near the hospital. If the companion’s stay is charged separately, it appears in the hospital’s estimate. Rules are stricter in intensive care and right after some operations, but even there parents are let in as often as possible and kept informed.
Can we bring a child to Germany for diagnostics only?
Yes, a family can come only for examinations and a confirmed diagnosis and continue treatment at home. The doctors carry out the necessary tests, discuss the results with colleagues from other specialties where needed and issue a written report with recommendations. The child’s own doctors can continue treatment on that basis. If the assessment shows that treatment in Germany would be better, the hospital proposes a plan and an estimate for the next stage.
How much does treatment for a child in Germany cost?
There is no single price: the cost depends on the diagnosis, the extent of the tests, the type of treatment and how long the child stays in hospital. That is why the figure comes from the hospital itself, in an estimate it prepares from the child’s records before arrival. The estimate covers tests, treatment and the hospital stay; accommodation for the parents, interpreting and travel are calculated separately. If the plan changes after the assessment, the estimate changes too.
How do we talk to the doctors if we don’t speak German?
Through a medical interpreter, who is present at consultations, at the discussion of the treatment plan and at discharge. Even when a doctor speaks English, every detail matters when a child’s health is discussed, so a professional who knows medical vocabulary is the safer choice. Reports and the discharge letter are translated so that doctors at home can read them. The interpreter helps the child too: what is about to happen is explained in a language they understand.
What happens after we return home?
After discharge the family takes home a detailed report and a follow-up plan: which tests to do, when to have check-ups and which symptoms to watch for. The plan is written so that the child’s own doctors can take over. If a follow-up visit to Germany is needed, this is noted in the discharge letter, and the next trip is arranged in the same way as the first.
How AlenMed arranges treatment for a child
AlenMed arranges a child’s treatment in Germany from the first documents to the return home. It starts with the records: discharge summaries, test results, MRI and CT discs, doctors’ reports. We have them translated into German and send them to hospitals suited to the child’s diagnosis, so that the doctors can assess the case before the family travels. If a diagnosis has already been made at home but doubts remain, a second opinion is a sensible first step: a German specialist reviews the records and says whether they agree with the diagnosis and the treatment plan. Before the trip, the family receives the hospital’s estimate.
We plan a trip with a child as a trip for the whole family. The visa requires an invitation from the hospital, issued for the child and for the adults accompanying them. An interpreter is present at consultations, at the discussion of results and at discharge. We find accommodation near the hospital, and before departure we help the family obtain a follow-up plan for home. The AlenMed office is in Munich, while our partner hospitals are spread across Germany, so the city of treatment is chosen by the diagnosis, not by the office address.
This material is for information only and is not an offer. A child’s treatment plan is decided by a doctor at an in-person consultation, after examination; only then can the options, scope and expected outcome of treatment be judged.
