Attack on GPs

- We were already outraged by it then - says Wojciech Pacholicki, vice president of the Federation of Zielona Góra Agreement. - We have open clinics and we accept all patients as usual. Also infected and sick with Covid. We perform tests, vaccinate and educate. But we are also the last resort for other patients - with chronic ailments, cancer, in the course of specialist treatment, who, due to the transformation of the wards into covidove, have a difficult access to hospital treatment. And now another attack - he adds.

This time a spokesman for the Ministry of Health attacked. Wojciech Andrusiewicz said at a press conference on Tuesday, talking about the drug for patients with Covid, which is also to be administered in primary care clinics, that he is concerned that some GPs do not want to see sick patients. The spokesman expressed concerns about the information about not admitting patients diagnosed with Covid-19 in primary health care facilities.

- Throwing such accusations without specifying specific cases is unacceptable - says Wojciech Pacholicki. - It harms our environment. It undermines the trust in all GPs, in such a difficult situation, before the next wave of coronavirus.

Andrzej Zapaśnik, FPZ expert, reminds that the care of POZ doctors for patients with COVID-19 remaining in home isolation cannot be a matter of willingness or reluctance of GPs, because it is an obligation resulting from the provisions of the agreement with the National Health Fund and the relevant ordinances of the Minister of Health and laws related to counteracting the COVID-19 epidemic.

- A duty that, in our opinion, is fulfilled with the greatest dedication by the vast majority of POZ entities, despite insufficient human resources, premises and equipment - adds Andrzej Zapaśnik. - The role of medical staff at POZ clinics, who have been working over their strength for many months in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, is fundamental and cannot be overestimated.

The Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund has enough data to present the facts. Namely - by how much has the workload of POZ clinics increased compared to the years before the epidemic? How many vaccinations have been performed in them in total. How many COVID-19 patients were admitted to primary health care clinics and how many counseling was provided for them. It's about facts, figures, data that both institutions have.

- Our observations show that the workload in POZ clinics increased by at least 10 - 20 percent. and this in a situation of shrinking human resources, when medics leave the profession, among others because of his well-deserved retirement. This applies to doctors, nurses and midwives who have no replacement. Especially in areas remote from big cities. We invite the spokesman to Sulechów in the province. Lubuskie, where for this reason the clinic was recently closed, in which care was provided to several thousand patients. And we ask for an answer - who is to provide these patients with the constitutionally free medical care at the level of primary health care? - asks Andrzej Zapaśnik.

According to Wojciech Pacholicki, the number of similar places where patients will not be provided with basic health care will increase dramatically in the coming months and years. - Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health has been doing nothing to prevent this catastrophic scenario for a long time. And now these attacks - adds the vice president of FPZ.

- Throwing public information about alleged irregularities in POZ, without giving specific examples, we perceive as groundless slander of our entire community - says Wojciech Pacholicki. - What is worse - it does not help to build patients' trust in GPs, who now bear the entire burden of educating in the field of vaccination against Covid, because no one else does it. We are at the forefront of the fight against the fifth wave of Covid-19 and we - often the only ones - take care of patients who cannot receive help in hospitals and from doctors of other specialties - e.g. oncologists or psychiatrists - he adds.

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