We quiz political party leaders. Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz says what about health care after the elections

As many as three-quarters of Poles have a bad opinion of the functioning of the Polish health care system, according to a survey conducted by the Health Care Committee of the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs as part of the 5 Steps to Repair Polish Health Care campaign. What measures do you and your party intend to take in the next term to improve the current situation?

The health care system needs changes, but changes that will not again be to the detriment of patients. Financing needs to be put in order, currently, although the Law and Justice government has raised the health premium, this money does not go to hospitals, but was spent, for example, on coal.

We also proposed a solution that if you wait more than 60 days in line to see a specialist, the National Health Service will reimburse you for the cost of a private visit.

We also believe that changes in health care should be the result of cross-party consensus - that's why we proposed the Pact for Health. There can be no constant change, consistency is needed.

It is necessary to relieve doctors of the burden of bureaucracy, today doctors mainly deal with papers, not patients. There is a need for decentralization in the health care management system and changes in the pricing of services, especially long-term care, palliative care, internal medicine, pediatrics.

Eighty percent of those surveyed said that the health system should receive more funding to treat patients. What level of public health spending do you think is optimal?

As I said, first of all, the money collected for health care actually has to go into it. We are talking about a spending level of 7 percent of GDP. It can't be that Poland spends less on health per capita than half the EU average.

Another challenge is the shortage of doctors and nurses. According to Eurostat, Poland has the lowest number of practicing physicians per thousand inhabitants in the EU.

Nearly half of respondents oppose increasing the health premium. At the same time, this group would agree to increase it, but on the condition that the funds from it would be allocated for a specific purpose. How do you think raising additional money for health care should be done, and what should it be used for first?

What is needed is a return to the deductibility of the health premium and a guarantee that the proceeds from the premium are actually used for health care and not for other government needs. Just as the government's decision recently went to the purchase of coal.

How do you assess the previous term in the context of health care? Do you think sufficient measures were taken to improve the health care system?

Recent years have, of course, on the one hand, been difficult moments related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and here all hands were needed to help. I myself worked as a volunteer in a hospital in Krakow. Unfortunately, after the pandemic I don't see a willingness to change in health care, moreover, it is difficult to expect change if the Minister of Health does not have support in his own government.

The PiS government's primary failings are: 20-billion hospital debts (that's a twofold increase), local governments were left to their own devices, I'll just remind you of the ruling of the Constitutional Tribunal, issued at the request of Marshal Adam Struzik, that responsibility for the losses of medical entities cannot be imposed on local governments. Underfunded today are basic medical procedures related to pediatrics, internal medicine, gynecology or geriatrics. Another problem is the lack of specialists, especially in rural areas - gynecologists. Unfortunately, the zip code determines our access to a doctor. On top of that, excessive bureaucracy, the doctor spends more time in paperwork than with the patient. Another problem is the total waste of money, the underutilization of purchased equipment and excessive centralization.

There has been a lot of talk recently about quality in health care. What do you plan to do to improve the quality of treatment?

Introduction of modern procedures. It cannot be that Poles have access to much worse therapies, if only for oncology, than western Europe.

Poles expect the greatest possible access to diagnostics and modern treatment. What do you think should be done to meet patients' expectations?

The European Cancer Plan - announced by us in the 2019 MEP campaign, which PSL MEP Adam Jarubas is already implementing today. That is, a guarantee of equalization of access to the latest medical procedures within the EU. Improving the quality of night and Christmas care and introducing 24-hour emergency centers are our answers to these challenges.

Thank you for the interview.