- This is a solution without a legal basis," says Sebastian Goncerz, chairman of the Residents' Agreement of the All-Poland Physicians' Trade Union. The medics want the abolition of the daily limits on prescriptions set by the Health Minister and joint talks on how to solve the problem of prescribers.
Doctors protested in front of the Health Ministry headquarters. The issue is restrictions on the quantity of prescriptions issued
Published July 13, 2023 14:19
- We are here to protest Health Minister Adam Niedzielski's introduction of a prescription limit. On July 3, the minister introduced a limit of 300 prescriptions and 80 patients per day. We do not agree with this, because it is a solution without a legal basis. The minister did a press conference and tweeted the information. No regulation has appeared, no change to existing laws," Sebastian Goncerz said during the protest.
OZZL stresses that the minister's actions are unlawful because they restrict doctors' statutory right to practice their profession. The union adds that the fight against the pathology in mass prescription writing should be carried out jointly, in consultation with the medical community.
- There was no consultation with the community to at least pick up some nuances. We would like to present our perspective, the perspective of people who deal with patients," Sebastian Goncerz pointed out.
According to the protesters, the cap will not solve the problem in the long run. In their view, it may turn out that even though in the first few days the system caught some 300 doctors associated with prescribers who tried to write more prescriptions than the limitation stipulated, those behind the practice will find some way around the regulations. Meanwhile, many doctors, seeing that the number of prescriptions they issue is approaching the upper limit set by the minister, are faced with the dilemma of whether to write another drug for the patient in front of them in the office.
- We are ordinary doctors who want to work and function normally in the system. We want to make an appeal to the Minister of Health to withdraw from the limit, which is unlawful and does not solve the problem, and in fact generates further complications that can be harmful to patients and staff. We expect the minister to sit down with representatives of the medical community to discuss how to take up the subject of automatic prescribing machines realistically and without harmful solutions," the chairman of the Residents' Agreement stressed.
