On Tuesday, a meeting was held between the Board of Directors of the National Association of Employers of County Hospitals and the Association of Polish Counties and Deputy Minister of Health Maciej Miłkowski, President of the National Health Fund Filip Nowak and President of the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tarification Roman Topor-Mądry.
County hospitals: Fiasco of talks with MZ
Published Nov. 8, 2023 08:10
The meeting discussed:
- To pay for all overcharges (in limited and unlimited ranges);
- Settlement of repayment 1/12;
- Rebate and performance of lump sum benefits for 2022;
- Payment for services rendered over and above the value of the lump sum contract in 2023;
- Changing valuations and improving profitability;
- New provisions for night and holiday health care.
As we read in the report of the meeting, once again representatives of the government side did not present any new proposals for solving the above problems, arguing that there were no funds in the budget. Representatives of hospitals were informed that the plan is to transfer 400 million zlotys to the budget of the National Health Fund, which will be transferred from the Ministry of Health (from the budget of unused funds for investments). However, it is unclear exactly how and for what they will be allocated. In addition, it was proposed to change the formula for calculating the lump sum for the first quarter of 2024.
- We have not reached any concrete agreement. No meaningful proposals have been made in response to our demands. There is no decision-making, we have a transitional period, and the current leadership of the MZ is dumping possible decisions on a future government. We don't have time for this," says Waldemar Malinowski, president of OZPSP.
Night and Christmas health care
The Ministry of Health, in a regulation in the provisions on night and holiday health care, imposes on hospitals, among other things, the obligation to hire an additional specialist and perform a wide range of tests and other services. With current staff shortages, this is downright impossible to implement. Moreover, this decision is not followed by any additional resources.
If no agreement is reached on this issue, we will recommend that hospital directors terminate their contracts.
- We do not agree with shifting primary health care responsibilities to county hospitals, and without any additional funds to cover the costs of the tests performed. These provisions were not consulted with our community in any way," says Waldemar Malinowski, president of OZPSP.
Decision-makers who are responsible for the organization and finances of the health care system are leaving hospitals with problems that have arisen as a result of government decisions. We must be aware here that, for example, in the case of the July raises for health care workers, hospitals did not receive the money to cover them. The funds came from overpayments from the first quarter of 2023.
According to hospital representatives, the issue of over- and undercontracting in the lump sum would be settled by an additional PLN 500 million.
We appeal to the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister to immediately address problems that are pressing and very important and affect all Poles. Today, with district hospitals and the bad decisions of the current government, it is "money that is at the forefront of needs in health care."
Source: press release
