The psychiatrist and patient community, centered around the Mental Health Congress, is calling for the finalization of the implementation of the community model nationwide within the next two years. On Tuesday, recommendations on the matter were presented, including outlays for psychiatric care and necessary legislative changes.
Only a signboard will remain, not the essence of community care....
Published Jan. 29, 2025 07:49
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On January 28, a conference was held entitled. "Stop abolishing Mental Health Centers. Recommendations for statutory regulation of psychiatry reform." Conference participants stressed that although politicians do not talk about plans to liquidate the centers and more broadly - the model tested in the pilot - such could be the end if only some solutions are implemented systemically. - Only a signboard will remain, not the essence of community care, they warned.
What demands have journalists heard? - These include a gradual increase in funding. Our demand is also the creation of a National Mental Health Center. We also postulate clarifying the rules of operation of mental health centers, i.e., for example, developing an organizational standard for CZPs, giving them financial independence. It is also time to work out the assumptions of specialized health programs and separate rules for financing university psychiatric clinics. Finally, it seems crucial to appoint a plenipotentiary for the reform of psychiatric care," enumerated Dr. Tomasz Szafrański of the Wolski Center for Mental Health.
Among the postulates, experts also mention the development of rules for CZP's interaction with primary health care and social welfare units, as well as county mental health councils. An important postulate is the deadline for implementing the solutions into the system - experts want it to take no longer than two years.
- We need concerted cooperation of all forces that should implement the National Mental Health Program. We are preparing the first textbook on community psychiatry in Poland," stressed Professor Jacek Wciórka, a psychiatry specialist, adding that there is a chance that the textbook will be published later this year.
Dr. Marek Balicki of the Council for Mental Health at the Minister of Health, former Minister of Health, former Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Health for Reform of Adult Psychiatry drew attention to finances. - We allocate less than 5 percent of the overall health care budget for psychiatric services, while in Europe the lowest levels are about 7 percent, and Germany spends more than 10 percent. We call for the target in Poland to be 7 percent," he - he said. Outlays would increase from 2026 (5.5 percent) until 2031 (by 0.25 percentage points per year).
