Poles postpone their health until later. The consequences can be fatal

The coronavirus pandemic has been going on for over a year. From the initial stage of fear and stress, we have already moved to the stage of indifference and getting used to the existing restrictions. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has affected many of our behaviors and habits. Research shows that even half of Poles avoided and postponed diagnostic tests and visits to doctors during the pandemic. The consequences of this can be fatal.

1. The Kliniki.pl report shows that more than half of Poles have limited contacts with health care during the coronavirus pandemic
2. Unfortunately, Poles postpone their research and visits until the end of the pandemic
3. Such a strategy may have serious consequences – both for the patients themselves and for the health care system in our country
4. You can find more such stories on the TvoiLokony home page

How did the pandemic affect health protection?

Kliniki.pl together with SW Resarch conducted a survey among Poles. The “Assessment of Polish health care” report shows in black and white that the pandemic effectively discouraged us from examining and visiting specialists.

The data shows that 54 percent. respondents during the pandemic avoided contact with the public health service.

The situation is slightly better in the case of private institutions – 27 percent. of those questioned admitted that they had postponed their visits.

Most often, people aged 55-64 (60%) and 45-54 (59%) avoided the public health service, the oldest (65+ -47%) least often.

On the other hand, private health care was avoided more often by the 65+ group (35%), the youngest – 18-14 years and 25-24 (22% each) least often.

Indeed, when the virus appeared in Poland, the government recommended that leaving home should be kept to a minimum. Months passed, the restrictions were relaxed, but the situation in health care still did not look good. Doctors have repeatedly called on us not to postpone our preventive examinations and not to avoid visits, especially if we noticed disturbing symptoms.

Unfortunately, not all Poles made an appointment with the doctors again after the initial lockdown. Perhaps this was due to the fact that many visits were canceled or postponed by the facilities themselves.

– We considered the words of Prime Minister Morawiecki about the inactivity of private medical care facilities as a harmful opinion, but we decided to check it on real data. Hence the idea for our study – the results of which strongly contradict these negative assessments. Without private facilities, the health of Poles during the pandemic would be completely neglected – explains Marcin Fiedziukiewicz, president of Kliniki.pl.

Visits postponed for an undefined future

What is worrying is the answer to the question in the Kliniki.pl poll, which was: What did you do after canceling or postponing your visit?

Almost every third Pole has decided to… wait for the end of the pandemic. Such an answer was given by 27,5 percent. respondents using public health care and 28,3 percent. using services privately.

Unfortunately, this approach can have dramatic consequences. They talked about it, among others outstanding Polish doctors from the Independent, Interdisciplinary Team of Health Experts “Continue Curatio”, who in August 2020 issued an appeal to Poles:

We also appeal to the sick not to wait for the end of the pandemic, because DISEASES DO NOT WAIT. DIAGNOSTICS AND TREATMENT OF OTHER DISEASES, INCLUDING CHRONIC DISEASES, CANNOT BE POSTPONED. You are safe in healthcare facilities because we have learned to protect our patients and ourselves from infection. Discontinuation of treatment due to fear of COVID-19 could cause far more dramatic consequences than the pandemic itself

1. The editorial board recommends: Doctors warn: COVID-19 is not the only health problem

How to safely use medical services in the era of a pandemic?

The results of the poll are not optimistic. Postponing visits and diagnostic tests may mean that in a few months or years Polish health care will face a huge challenge – ever longer queues for treatments, diagnostic tests and consultations, and we know that it is not so good in this matter. “Passed” diseases will generate high costs for the care system.

But the most important thing is people. So many surgeries have still not taken place, so many patients have been waiting for months to be examined. Unfortunately, delays in diagnosis will mean that many diseases will be detected too late – when they have already caused irreparable damage.

If the doctors asked and appealed, what then failed? There seems to be a lack of adequate communication. While the slogan “stay at home” was heard everywhere, the encouragement to do overdue examinations and arrange deferred appointments did not sound loud enough.

Waiting for the pandemic to end is not a good strategy – no one knows how long COVID-19 will remain in our lives. So there is no time to waste, you have to catch up.

Patients who fear coronavirus infection during a visit to the clinic can use telemedicine services. Currently, not only teleporting, i.e. telephone consultations, are offered, but also video chats that allow face-to-face contact with a specialist. There are also telemedicine solutions that allow you to monitor your health remotely.

Of course, TV viewing is not a recipe for all health problems. There are occasions when a live meeting is necessary. You should then remember about the most important safety measures: a mask, keeping distance, hand disinfection.

This may interest you:

1. When is teleportation enough and when to go to an appointment? Expert Council
2. Poland went through a “health crisis”. What’s next?
3. 90 thousand additional deaths and a huge “health debt”. The doctor criticizes the tactics of fighting the epidemic

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