Health care in Poland (report)

To: Minister of Health
From: (dane)
Subject: Health care in Poland
Date: 10th November, 2003


Purpose
The purpose of this report is to put a case of standart of health care in Poland. It focuses on situation in hospitals, medical staff, and general public feelings. Also the aspect of improving the functioning of this organ is taken into account.


Hospitals
The vast majority of polish hospitals are dilapidated and overcrowded. Medical devices tend to be time-worn and practically there is no hope for their fast modernization because of lack of funds. Over 70% of hospitals are encumbered with debts what means that in all this institutions the develompent is impossible and , what is more, people will not recieve basic, satisfactory help. Cutbacks are also the main reason of closure of health service centres in provintional towns. Potentional patients from countries and small communities are forced to take a cure in bigger cities; that is why the queues in hospitals are so long. To decrease the costs of running, managing directors limit the number of places in health service centres and shorten the recovery time when the patient should stay in a hospital bed.


Medical Staff
On the ground of soundings, medical staff started being considered to be inadequate and unqualified. More and more accidents of doctor’s errors are noticed, bribes and frauds became common. Lowering salarys causes mass manifestations and protests. Doctors and nurses are grumbling at long dutys, irregular payment and lack of indispensable devices. General dissatisfaction of health care workers influences on poor quality of medical service.


Public feelings
Small minority of interviewed claimed that the standart of health care of polish hospitals is satisfactory while over three quarters admitted that they are dissappointed. This is obvious for those being surveyed, that the government should initiate some reforms.

Conclusion
Summing up, the situation of hospitals in our country is rather poor and whole society realized that it is not only the medical workers business to try to improve it, but the most important is to visualize this fact to the government which still seems to believe that problems can shape well on their own