The Parliamentary Committee on Health has passed a bill on the NCC.

The Health Committee introduced legislative and editorial amendments to the government's draft law on the KSK, submitted by parliamentary legislators, as well as an amendment by Elzbieta Gelert (KO), which clarifies the rules of eligibility for the KSK of a medical entity whose structure includes more than one medical establishment.

The Health Committee did not agree to accept the Law and Justice amendments, which MP Katarzyna Sójka will put forward as minority motions. They assume that KSK services and the tasks of coordinating centers will be financed from the state budget, rather than by the National Health Fund. According to Katarzyna Sójka, this will ensure stable financing of the NCCs in a situation of extreme underfunding of health care (the law assumes that coordinating centers will receive a lump sum to carry out their tasks, while all services will be financed by the payer). During the discussion, as in the first reading, the Law and Justice Party (Czeslaw Hoc) insisted on continuing the assumptions of the pilot and not limiting the benefits under the KSK. However, Deputy Health Minister Jerzy Szafranowicz left no illusions - the current financial situation does not allow for the removal of limits.

Law and Justice also wanted to shorten the deadline for launching the NCC from two years to one year, shorten the period for implementing the electronic cardiac care card (e-CARD), and correct the provision for quality indicators in the NCC. These amendments, too, will be submitted by Law and Justice deputies in the second reading as minority motions.

The National Cardiac Network (NCCN) is intended to increase the effectiveness of treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which are the first cause of death among Poles and strongly affect the relatively low - compared to other European countries - life expectancy in our country. The main idea behind the National Cardiac Network is that every patient, regardless of where they live, should be able to receive cardiac care based on the same standards.

The system is to respond flexibly to patients' needs and ensure continuity of treatment at the stages of diagnosis, cardiac treatment, rehabilitation and further treatment in specialized clinics, primary care or long-term care. According to the draft law prepared by the Health Ministry, the NSC will have three levels of security. At the first level (OK I), the patient is to be provided with basic cardiac diagnostics. At the second level (OK II) - coordination and continuity of cardiac care including comprehensive cardiac diagnostics, cardiac treatment including interventional cardiology and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, and access to cardiac rehabilitation. At the third level (OK III), coordination and continuity of cardiac care is to be ensured, and the most complex medical procedures, such as cardiac surgery, will be performed. The introduction of an e-CARD is also planned, which will enable the collection and processing of data on cardiac care and the monitoring of care quality indicators within the network.

Responding to MPs' doubts, Konrad Korbinski, director of the Health Ministry's Coordination Department, stressed that primary care clinics will not enter the NCCC, but will cooperate with it - or in any case, there will be, based on the pilot experience, outlined paths for such cooperation, which would include both the stage before the patient enters the NCCC (diagnosis, referral to a specialist) and the stage after treatment.

The law on the National Cardiac Network is a milestone for the NAC, and its enactment will enable the release of funds for investment in centers that will be qualified for the network (the first qualification is scheduled for the second quarter of 2025).