MANAGING PUBLIC HEALTHCARE UNITS IN POLAND – RESEARCH FINDINGS

Abstract

Managing public health care units has failed to attract the attention of decision-makers to date. This laissez-faire approach of sorts creates an environment in which these units have to face an evergrowing competition on the part of their non-public rivals. This paper starts with an analysis of the background of changes in the management of public health care units which have occurred in Poland in recent years. Next, described are the findings from a study concerning management quality conducted in 2003–2008 in public health care units in Poland. The research was based on a model developed specifically to that end involving the compliance of health care units with the regulations currently in force and good management practices. The survey consisted of a questionnaire composed of closed questions. In total, 154 units were surveyed (51 of them twice), which were divided into the following groups: surgical hospitals, non-surgical hospitals and other units. The results obtained indicate that the units were managed in very different ways. The best results were obtained by voivodship surgical hospitals, the poorest – non-surgical hospitals. Results of every repeated survey were decidedly better than those of the first one. These better results were related to the achievement of goals, which were adopted by the participants after the first survey. It is hard to overrate the part played in the management of health care units by their founding bodies, which can motivate them to achieve better results. On the other hand, lack of the commitment on the part of the owner has a demotivating impact on the way the health care units are managed.