Waldemar Kraska: Psychiatry reform is accepted by the entire community. Thank you for the good cooperation

As the deputy health minister noted, recent years, especially the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the conflict across our eastern border, have made the problem of mental health, especially in the youngest, very apparent.

- They are the ones who, locked at home during the pandemic, without direct contact with peers and teachers, have fallen into the not always friendly virtual world. Among the youngest we see very big problems: from psychiatric disorders to suicidal behavior," said Waldemar Kraska.

The need for reform of Polish mental health care has already been raised for years. Such a reform has been underway since 2018. The priority in it is to support the youngest.

- Child and adolescent treatment reform is based on three levels. We wanted to make access to a specialist as close as possible, so that not only in large centers, but in small county towns there would be access to psychotherapists. At the first level, the community care level, we already have 398 teams for children and adolescents in the country. You can go there without a referral and meet with psychologists or psychotherapists who not only solve the child's problems, but related family problems. I think this works quite well," the deputy health minister pointed out.

On the second level are centers where outpatient care is provided, in a day unit mode. Psychiatric doctors work in them. There are already 133 such centers in Poland. The third level, the highest level of reference, is 32 centers with inpatient 24-hour care.

- I think it's important to reach young people as close to home as possible. We are working with the Ministry of Education to connect our systems. It turns out that certain activities are departmentally oriented, and we want to create one common center to coordinate them," added Waldemar Kraska.

Psychiatry reform also applies to adult patient care. A pilot program in mental health centers is underway.

- There are 75 such centers and almost 10 million Poles are covered by their care. These places are definitely increasing and are well-funded," the deputy health minister pointed out.

As the deputy minister added, toll-free hotlines and instant messaging services have also been launched so that a person in crisis can quickly contact a therapist.

- It does indeed work. A young man recently called this line and said he was about to commit suicide. The consultant who spoke to him notified the service, which went to the site. The door was locked, so it was broken down. It turned out that behind the wall sat the child's mother, who did not know anything," said Waldemar Kraska.

The deputy health minister recalled that funding for child and adolescent psychiatric care has quadrupled from 2009 to 2023. This year it will be more than one billion zlotys. In 2015, outlays amounted to about 165 million zlotys.