A reform proposal from 2019 aims to improve coordination of health services in Poland by strengthening the role of the counties

Abstract

Numerous attempts have been undertaken over the past two decades to improve the coordination of health services in Poland. These have usually focused on specific groups of patients or conditions, usually encompassing various types of specialist care, with only a few initiatives including a wider range of health services or sectors. These efforts have not been helped by the fragmentation of responsibilities between the various levels of territorial self-government, which are the founding bodies for different types of public providers. In 2019, a new policy initiative of the Ministry of Health proposed the establishment of County Health Centres that would improve integration of primary health care with specialist outpatient care, inpatient care in the county hospitals (hospitals of the 1st reference level), and other services at the level of the county. This would constitute the so-called “core system of health security” and support reorientation of health services towards PHC and the community and away from specialist hospitals. With its focus on health promotion and disease prevention and tailoring provision to the needs of the local populations, the proposal resembles examples of population health models introduced in several other countries, and offers a chance to improve the allocation of resources and to reduce the persisting health disparities across the country.