In brief

• The President of the NFZ proposes that no more than 210 facilities maintain full round-the-clock readiness in hospitals.
• The remaining hospitals would provide assistance to a limited extent, directing patients to specialist centers.
• The model is intended to support planned and outpatient treatment, reducing the costs of maintaining full 24/7 readiness.
• The proposal was presented during the XXII Health Market Forum.

Round-the-clock hospitals

The President of the NFZ believes that no more than 210 facilities in Poland should maintain full readiness to admit patients in emergencies (Całodobowa pomoc w najwyżej 210 szpitalach? Prezes NFZ proponuje zmianę – GazetaPrawna.pl). These facilities would be multi-profile hospitals (Przebudowa szpitali. Wystarczyć 210 placówek całodobowych – kronikatygodnia.pl).

Role of the remaining facilities

Hospitals that do not operate round the clock would not have to close their wards. They could offer residents assistance within a narrower scope and, when necessary, refer patients to centers with broader capabilities. The idea is to shift the emphasis toward outpatient and planned treatment, which would reduce the costs of maintaining full readiness around the clock.

Context of the proposal

Filip Nowak, President of the NFZ, presented this concept during the XXII Health Market Forum, where financing and changes in how healthcare is provided were discussed. According to the President of the Fund, it is necessary to analyze available resources and how they are used. Implementing this model on a broad scale could be one of the largest changes in the organization of Polish hospital treatment in recent years, as the President noted. For now, this is a proposal, not an approved decision (Całodobowa gotowość potrzebna w najwyżej 210 szpitalach. Prezes NFZ o przebudowie sieci – rynekzdrowia.pl).

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