In Warsaw, Orłowski Hospital halves planned surgeries — RMF24
In Warsaw, the Orłowski Clinical Hospital has halved the number of planned surgeries due to a difficult financial situation. The hospital described patients requiring life-saving procedures as protected, while operations that can wait are being postponed until next year. This was reported by RMF24, citing the facility’s director, Tomasz Kopeć.
Patient complaints
Poland’s National Health Fund, NFZ, recorded 47 substantiated complaints concerning restricted access to hospital services. The largest number of such reports was received by the fund’s regional branches in the Silesian Voivodeship — 12 — and in Lower Silesia — eight.
The complaints concerned, among other areas, otolaryngology, general surgery, gastroenterology, pediatrics, cardiology, plastic surgery, ophthalmology and orthopedics. At the same time, the NFZ central office stated that it had not yet received reports from medical facilities or the fund’s voivodeship branches about restrictions on patient admissions specifically due to financial problems. No substantiated complaints in this category were registered in the Łódź, Lesser Poland and Świętokrzyskie voivodeships.
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Hospitals cut costs
At the beginning of October, the Orłowski Hospital reported that, like some other medical facilities in the Masovian Voivodeship, it had received an annex to its NFZ contract only for October. Łukasz Jarocki, spokesperson for the fund’s Masovian branch, said that contracts in the region are to be secured through the end of 2026, and hospitals should soon receive annexes for November and December.
The University Clinical Center in Katowice has also introduced an austerity regime. Kamila Żyła, head of the hospital pharmacy, said the facility is rationalizing spending primarily on medicines and medical devices, although services are still being provided in full.
Polish Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda said the government is discussing additional funding for the NFZ with the Ministry of Finance. According to RMF24, the fund’s budget is short by 14 billion zlotys through the end of the year. One reason for the financial pressure on hospitals is the need to ensure legally guaranteed salary increases for medical workers.
