MZ reassures: working hours of primary care clinics remain unchanged

The Health Ministry does not intend to introduce a mandatory extension of the working hours of primary care clinics. As officials point out, the solution would unduly burden small facilities and individual medical practices, which already face staff and financial shortages.

Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. - these reception hours at family doctors' clinics remain unchanged. The Health Ministry officially assures that it is not working on a mandatory extension of primary care availability hours.

Concerns in the family doctor community were raised by Health Minister Izabela Leszczyna's statement at a press conference on May 14, 2025, suggesting the possibility of extending the work of dispensaries.

"There is no acceptance of such changes! In the absence of the possibility of hiring additional personnel, a commensurate increase in the financing of the POZ and a growing average age among doctors and nurses, demanding longer work is a demand for effort beyond one's strength," Dr. Bozena Janicka, president of the Healthcare Employers' Agreement, alarmed in a letter to the health ministry.

The average age of physicians, nurses and midwives working in PCPs today exceeds 50, and staffing and financial difficulties have been ongoing for years. Requiring additional visiting hours - without the guarantee of additional FTEs and resources - could exacerbate these problems, according to providers.

In response to the environment's letter, Maciej Karaszewski, director of the MZ's Treatment Department, said that "organizational solutions in the form of a mandatory extension of the time interval for the availability of POZ services could be an additional burden for small establishments and individual professional practices." The ministry therefore has no plans to work on introducing such changes.

The director recalled that the current Health Minister's Regulation of September 24, 2013 on guaranteed services in the field of primary care obliges facilities to ensure the availability of a doctor, nurse and midwife for primary care from Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm (excluding public holidays). The schedule applies to all providers, regardless of practice size or location.

So for now, patients can rest assured: despite discussions about the need for better accessibility to family doctors, the health ministry has no plans to extend clinic hours. Instead, providers expect measures to strengthen staffing and funding to maintain current availability without risking staff overload.

Source: PPOZ