The public health service in Poland is threatened with a huge crisis. A crisis of overwork, underinvestment and general dissatisfaction of staff with working conditions. – If the situation does not improve, almost 280 centers will have to be closed – warns Zofia Małas, president of the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives in an interview with the PulsMedycyny.pl portal.
- The situation in Polish public health care has reached a critical point. There is a shortage of doctors and nurses, hospital wards and entire hospitals are being closed. Employees are exhausted and the patients suffer
- The pandemic has exacerbated the crisis in underinvested public health facilities. The focus on treating the coronavirus primarily has resulted in neglect of treating other conditions
- The protest scheduled for September 11 is an attempt to establish a constructive dialogue with the government and to present the most important postulates of the health service.
- More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page
A protest by healthcare workers is announced for September 11th. It will be attended by nurses, laboratory technicians, doctors, paramedics and non-medical workers. They will demand, inter alia, faster growth of state expenditure on health care and better salaries. According to Zofia Małas, If the government does not engage in a constructive dialogue with the environment, not only wards, but also entire hospitals may prepare for closure.
Staff shortages, closed hospitals and departments
The country lacks from 20 to 50 thousand. doctors. The research carried out last year by the University of Economics in Krakow shows that almost 30 percent doctors want to reduce or change their jobs after the COVID-19 crisis, with 9 percent plans to emigrate, and 6 percent. thinking about leaving the profession. The pandemic has also worsened the problems resulting from the under-financing of health care, as hospitals have for a long time prioritized COVID-19 treatment over other procedures. Working overtime and exceeding strength is also a problem. Many hours of on-call duty undermine the health of medical personnel and are indirectly risky for patients.
- How Much Do Nurses Earn? The head of the unions comments on the words of a spokesman for the Ministry of Health about 6,5 thousand. nursing salary
Many branches in Poland are closing due to a lack of staff. We wrote in Medonet in August that dozens of hospital departments have already been closed all over Poland. Read HERE: Namysłów without a delivery room, Zamość without paediatrics. Several dozen hospital departments have already been closed in Poland [LIST]
A disturbing lack of dialogue
Zofia Małas also spoke about the shortage of staff and the growing average age of medical personnel, as well as the fact that the dialogue with the Ministry of Health resembles a monologue.
— If we do not reverse this negative trend now, Poles will be treated in a moment by retirees who want to earn some extra money on low pensions or seek help in distant hospitals. If the situation does not improve, nearly 280 facilities will have to close due to staff shortages among medical workers, she said.
- A visit to the doctor postponed by four years. This is not a joke. “It could cost my life”
She also added that the Ministry of Health does not listen to the medical community, and the document “Long-term Policy of the State for Nursing and Midwifery in Poland” adopted in 2019 is not being implemented. And it was about, among others o increasing the number of nurses and midwives, stopping economic emigration, motivating graduates to work in the profession. – Meanwhile, the average age in our professions is growing: the statistical nurse is 53, the midwife is 51! – emphasizes the president of the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives.
Also read:
- Prof. Grodzki on a radical reduction in the number of hospitals in Poland. What is it about?
- Polish Order: More money for hospitals, a fund for victims of medical malpractice
- How do hospitals feed patients in other countries? Food is better than in Poland?
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