The Regional Council of Nurses and Midwives in Słupsk opposes the inclusion of medical caregivers in the provision of long-term home nursing care. In its adopted statement, the council argues that current regulations stipulate that this service may be provided exclusively by nurses, and that the real obstacle to patients’ access to care is the limits and insufficient reimbursement rates set by the National Health Fund (NFZ).
Nurses Oppose the Involvement of Medical Caregivers in Long-Term Home Care
Published June 30, 2026 07:24
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The Regional Council of Nurses and Midwives in Słupsk has adopted a position opposing proposals to allow medical caregivers to provide long-term home nursing care.
As the local government points out, the applicable regulations clearly state that home care services may be provided only by nurses with the appropriate qualifications. The Regional Council points out that the 2013 regulation issued by the Minister of Health provides for the involvement of medical caregivers only in inpatient care.
The position paper also highlights systemic arguments. According to the authors of the document, basic living and care services are already provided by social assistance services, which are funded outside the National Health Fund (NFZ) system. Including medical caregivers in long-term home nursing care could result in the same services being funded from different sources.
The local government also highlights patient safety issues.
“Caring for a critically ill patient in their own home is a continuous series of clinical decisions, not a set of tasks to be divided among different professions. Since the duties of a medical caregiver are required by law to be supervised, in the patient’s home—where there is no one else present—such supervision is simply impossible,” — said Sebastian Irzykowski, chair of the Regional Council of Nurses and Midwives in Słupsk and a member of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives. He also emphasizes that this position is not directed against medical caregivers. “The work of medical caregivers is necessary and valuable. The point is that the legislature deliberately positioned this profession within inpatient care, as part of a team and under supervision. Moving it to the patient’s home is not a supplement to the regulations, but a circumvention of a decision that the legislature made deliberately,” noted Sebastian Irzykowski.
According to the Regional Council, the problem with the availability of services does not stem from a shortage of staff, but from the National Health Fund’s (NFZ) funding rules. The local government points out that long-term home nursing care is among the lowest-paid services, and services provided beyond the limit are only partially funded. As a result, many providers are refusing to take on new patients, even though they have the necessary staff.
“Adding another profession will neither remove the cap nor raise the reimbursement rate. It will only change the person at the door, leaving the real barrier intact. If the goal is to improve patients’ access to care, there is only one way forward: making reimbursement rates more realistic and removing the quota barriers,” added Sebastian Irzykowski.
In its statement, the Regional Council calls for the service to remain exclusively nursing-based and for systemic efforts to focus on strengthening the independent role of nurses. It also announces further action on this matter.
“We will address this issue consistently. Whenever solutions that appear cost-effective but are in fact risky for patients arise in the healthcare debate, the professional association has a duty to speak clearly and base its arguments on facts,” Irzykowski noted.
Source: OIPiP
