Oncology requires changes, a working team has been created that will present the first proposals for solutions in a few weeks, said Minister of Health Bartosz Arłukowicz after a meeting with representatives of the Polish Oncological Society (PTO).
Arłukowicz, after the meeting of the team that is to develop changes in oncology, told journalists that he had invited not only oncologists, but also hospital directors. He announced that the team was divided into four working groups to propose changes.
Oncology requires changes, not only organizational, financial, but also structural changes ”- he assessed.
When asked about the possible lifting of limits on financing oncological services, the minister replied that this issue was also the subject of the team’s work. At the same time, he added that the abolition of the limits must be based on financial possibilities.
The patient is lost in the system today and it is certainly necessary to focus on comprehensiveness, on hospitals that take care of the patient from a to the z – emphasized Arłukowicz.
In the coming weeks, we will present the first proposals for solutions – he announced.
President of the PTO prof. Jacek Jassem assessed in his interview with PAP that the meeting was of a very constructive nature. We have presented various ways of solving the problem of limited access to oncological services, incl. we have proposed a pilot program of lifting limits on oncological services – he explained.
He added that the conversation also concerned a different allocation of funds for oncology, e.g. that more chemotherapy services would be provided in an outpatient clinic, instead of being hospitalized. A stay in hospital is not always necessary for chemotherapy and costs much more, he added.
The President of the PTO also pointed out that patients still sign up for several queues at the same time because there is no good verification system where the patient is treated. He also pointed to the lack of an efficient system in which the patient could check the waiting time for an appointment to a specific doctor.
Representatives of the PTO have been arguing for a long time that the limitation of oncological services should be abolished. Such a change was postulated by, among others in a letter to the president, prime minister and head of the Ministry of Health.
Prof. In a letter sent last week, Jassem emphasized that the Society, apart from the need to lift the limits, sees “the need to significantly improve the effectiveness of the funds spent” in medical care in Poland.
The spokesman for the ministry of health, Krzysztof Bąk, told PAP that the proposal to abolish the limitation of oncology services should be preceded by a detailed analysis of the consequences of such a decision, primarily financial, and the prevention of possible abuses, which the lifting of limits may lead to. He added that the ministry asked the National Health Fund to conduct such an analysis.
According to PTO, expenditure on cancer treatment per capita in Poland accounts for about one third of the EU average and is much lower than in the Czech Republic or Slovakia.
The PTO also points out that limiting oncological services leads to delays in cancer treatment and an increase in financial outlays, as the costs of treating advanced cancers are much higher.
According to the Society, improving the effectiveness of the fight against cancer in Poland requires giving it the highest state priority and bold political decisions. Prof. Jassem informed in a letter that PTO is preparing a Strategy for Polish Oncology – the Polish “Cancer Plan”, one of the elements of which is the rationalization of expenses in oncology.
Last Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, presenting the government’s plans for the coming year, announced particularly intensive work in reducing queues to oncology services. He added that he took the informal patronage over this work.
As he emphasized, the proposed solutions will be within the financial capacity of the state. He also emphasized that the changes – especially in the case of oncology – “should and must bring about quick, visible in 2014 effects in terms of availability and waiting time for treatment. (PAP)