Izabela Leszczyna with a lot of credit. What are the priorities and challenges for the new health minister?

Izabela Leszczyna's appointment is commented on by Michal Bulsa, president of the Regional Medical Council in Szczecin:

Even the best doctor in the world, without the power to make things happen and get to the so-called ear of the president, has no chance of successfully leading the health ministry. So I don't think the fact that the potential Health Minister was not a doctor is a bigger problem. It's a technical thing. It is clear that a doctor has a better understanding of medics, knows the workings of the system, and is empirically familiar with the ills of health care. However, it is undeniable that an efficient and effective manager, maintaining a position of distance, will be able to look at the health care system and its ills more objectively. So I look at the appointment of the Minister with a kind of hope and a lot of credit.

Priorities? A combination of water and fire, i.e. patching up the huge staffing hole in Polish hospitals in particular in the context of nursing staff, while maintaining the high quality of education at medical schools. I am very curious as to what the Minister's approach will be to the training of physicians in feldsher schools, which were created on a massive scale under Ministers Chernak and Niedzielski.

We need to sort out the issue of salaries for young doctors, take care of the nursing staff. We also need to take care of patients on a priority basis. We have modern technologies, artificial intelligence, futuristic solutions - but we need to be closer to patients, have more time for them, pay more attention to prevention. I would repeat after Minister Bartosz Arlukowicz that the priority here should be the emphasis on oncological treatment.

The Minister must also keep in mind the dialogue with the medical community. This is a difficult task, because doctors and dentists are not an easy and demanding discussion partner. We require knowledge, commitment, and that important health care issues be carried out in partnership with the medical community, not completely outside of us.

Source: OIL Szczecin