MZ: There are already 339 first-level psychiatric care facilities for children and adolescents

The deputy head of the Ministry of Health answered the question of a group of opposition deputies about the situation in child psychiatry, with particular emphasis on the crises about which the media informed the public in two institutions - Konstancin and Olsztyn. The deputies also wanted to know if and how the ministry reacted to the information about "local crises" and - what it is doing to prevent them, primarily in terms of finance and personnel.

Miłkowski assured that the Ministry of Health treats the issue of child and adolescent psychiatry as a priority - that is why the reform of the entire system, which is based on three levels, has been underway for several years.

- We are definitely increasing human resources in the psychiatric care system for children and adolescents. Together with the community, we have prepared a plan for the reform of child and adolescent psychiatry, the aim of which is to ensure quick diagnosis and solution of the reported problems. The main goal is to reduce the number of children who have to go to hospital treatment due to a mental crisis, he emphasized. In a three-level system, the burden of initial diagnostics and assistance in the case of less severe disorders rests on the first and second level centers operating in the environment.

- We already have 339 facilities of the first reference level, so practically the entire network has already been established. The second reference level is related to the initiation of pharmacotherapy and diagnosis, as it is only in these facilities that a psychiatric consultation is possible. These centers also operate in two variants: as a mental health clinic or a mental health clinic with a day ward. We have 112 such centers, competitions are ongoing all the time - he reminded.

Centers of the third level, such as Konstancin and Olsztyn, in which crisis situations occurred, are highly specialized institutions.

In Olsztyn, as the deputy minister said, the crisis was resolved thanks to the close cooperation of the management of the center, the national consultant for child psychiatry, the ministry and local authorities responsible for providing psychiatric care in this region. The situation is different in the case of the center in Konstancin, because the facility operates in the form of a company and there, interventions, be it local government or ministry, are not possible.

Miłkowski recalled that over the past year, spending on psychiatry increased by 24%. The ministry is also trying to solve the staffing problem - the number of specialists has increased over eight years to 548, i.e. by 50 percent. - The number of people in the course of specialization is also increasing. Currently, there are 253 of them, including 179 in the residential mode, which means an increase of 118%. It is still not enough. In order for there to be more specialists, the Ministry of Health included child psychiatry among the priority specializations, where salaries are higher and amount to PLN 6,900 from summer holidays, and PLN 7,211 after two years of employment - said Miłkowski.

But that's not all. As part of the POWER programs worth PLN 35 million, clinical psychologists and psychotherapists are educating themselves with the needs of the mental health care system and children and adolescents - at the moment, there are over two thousand people undergoing training, and the total number is to be six thousand.