The medical association expresses indignation and disappointment in the face of successive public statements by representatives of the ruling coalition, which not only violate the dignity of the medical profession, but are also intended to antagonize doctors and patients. Recently, there have been situations that have caused particular emotions among health care workers.
Doctors outraged by statements by ruling coalition politicians. They appeal to the Prime Minister
Published Aug. 14, 2024 10:16
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These include the recent words of Deputy Health Minister Jerzy Szafranowicz, who stated: "An orthopedist can admit a given patient 3 times, but he can also admit 15," which were met with criticism in the medical community. However, subsequent statements by politicians from the ruling party have further inflamed the situation. MP Przemyslaw Witek, representing the Civic Coalition, said during a broadcast on Polish Radio, among other things: "I for one believe that every pot of money we throw into the system, whether it be 10, 20 or 100 billion - will be eaten up by doctors. (...) So far, every attempt to correct the health care reform has ended up with white personnel - mainly doctors - eating it. And what should be done? We need to get as many doctors into the market as quickly as possible."
These words have caused a wave of outrage in the medical community. According to the self-government, instead of supporting doctors and striving to improve working conditions, MP Witek, as well as other politicians, seem to blame doctors for all problems in the health care system.
In a letter to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, NRL President Lukasz Jankowski points out that Mr. Witek, noting the high costs associated with the employment of physicians, should seek to ease the burden on doctors by introducing support staff, physician assistants and reducing bureaucracy, as is practiced in many countries. In this way, the efficiency of the health care system can be increased, instead of proposing a redundant, quality-free "production" of new doctors, who are the most highly qualified and therefore the most expensive employees in the system.
Doctors perceive these statements not only as lack of knowledge, but also as a deliberate effort to discredit the entire professional group in the eyes of the public. Attempts to put the responsibility for the poor financial condition of the health care system on doctors and other medical workers are not only unfair, but also require a strong response.
In view of the above, the president of the NRL has asked Donald Tusk to clarify the situation and take steps to prevent further attempts to discredit doctors.
Source: NIL
