From today, there are no limits to specialists. How long will we wait for the visit? [WE CHECK]

On July 1, one of the assumptions of the Polish Governance related to the health care system in Poland enters into force. It’s about limits to specialist doctors. From now on, they will no longer apply, which is to reduce the queues and provide patients with a shorter waiting period for an appointment. Will it actually happen?

1. Poles using the National Health Fund know very well that it is impossible to get to a specialist in our country “on the spot”. It happens that the waiting time is really long
2. Until now, it could happen that the date of the visit fell on the next calendar year, which was associated with the limits for specialists. Now this problem will no longer exist
3. Doctors admit that the solution is good – at least in this respect. Because, in their opinion, there is no point in unloading the queues
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage.

No limits to specialists. How long will we wait for the next visit?

The abolition of the limits for specialist doctors is one of the assumptions of the Polish Order regarding the protection of citizens’ health. The restriction will expire on Thursday 1 July. In practice, this means that there will no longer be a risk that a specialist has already admitted too many patients in a given year and, in order to be able to treat them, must wait until the next settlement period.

In principle, this facility is to contribute to reducing queues to specialist doctors, and thus to improving the quality of the health care system in Poland.

1. See also: The government is lifting limits on specialists. Expert: Queues won’t disappear anyway

Will we actually make an appointment faster from July 1? Hard to say. The search engine for terms prepared by the National Health Fund allows you to make an appointment, but the data from most institutions are not updated. For example, when searching for allergy clinics in the province. Mazowieckie with free terms, we learn that it is even possible to visit the center in Radom. Date of visit: June 29 (!). In practice, this means that we can actually search for a free term via the website, but it may turn out that it has been unavailable for a long time.

A visit that may actually still be available to patients is displayed when we choose vascular surgery clinics in Lower Silesia. The June 29 update shows that the next available dates are September 27, January 11, 2022 or March 16, 2022. So at the moment it looks like the revolutionary change may not start to be felt for patients until later.

The dates of the next visits to the National Health Fund can be checked at https://terminyleczenia.nfz.gov.pl/

Will the queues for specialists run out? Doctors are under no illusions

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday that the change is aimed at shortening the queues to specialists.

– From July 1, we are lifting all admission limits for specialists and this will be the standard that we are implementing. We will try to unload queues, shorten these queues first of all, I can at least promise you at the beginning – Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

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In the long run, can we count on the fact that the queues to specialists will actually shorten and we will be able to make an appointment, for example, to a cardiologist overnight? According to the employees of the health care system, there is nothing to count on. The mere abolition of limits will not make the medical staff grow.

– The very decision is right – said Dr. Bartosz Fiałek in an interview with Medonet. – Outpatient specialist care should be the cornerstone of the healthcare system. However, the queues will not disappear, because in Poland we have an extreme shortage of doctors and it is simply impossible to physically supply these unlimited admissions. The good thing, however, is that you will not have to postpone patients after getting a contract for the next calendar year.

The specialist pointed out that the queues would last mainly due to inadequate financing.

– Many months of queues to specialist doctors are the result of a lack of staff and disproportionate funding to the needs. Increasing funding leading to improved access to specialist clinics will enable us to diagnose and treat many disease entities much faster than before, which will reduce the number of complications.

Inadequate funding is related to the reluctance of doctors to work in clinics under the National Health Fund. It just doesn’t pay them off.

– The public system is not financially competitive for doctors. Queues will not decrease when the limits are lifted, as if by magic. This must be followed by financial motivation – admitted Małgorzata Gałązka-Sobotka, health expert at the Lazarski University in an interview with Health Policy.

Unlimited, but maybe also without doctors

As suggested by the Health Policy, the abolition of the limits may result in a shortage of specialist doctors in clinics. Signing a contract with the National Health Fund and providing services under such cooperation is simply not financially profitable for medics.

A specialist in a private clinic can collect up to PLN 250 for a visit. In the case of a visit under the National Health Fund, the cost of advice is PLN 40 or PLN 50. So the difference is diametrical.

Also read:

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2. “One out of ten” – 11 questions about health and medicine. Some are really hard. You will make it?
3. Can you recognize the symptoms of diabetes? Check what you know about this disease [QUIZ]
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