Medical staff stand firm as parliament begins to debate health reforms

Employees are standing up in defense of their compensation. Yesterday evening doctors and nurses in the Specialist Voivod Hospital in Lublin walked out on their patients for hour. In Chełm, Opole and Łuków health workers gathered outside their work places for hour-long peaceful demonstrations. Meanwhile, the health sector is set to be rocked by another revolutionary change. Public hospitals will reportedly soon be able to take cash from those patients who do not want to wait in line to see a doctor, or those interested in queue-jumping for an operation. Its thought the proposals will be sent to different ministries for consultation. The changes could be introduced this year. According to analysts this could result in several hundred of millions of złotys in revenues. The state currently spends over zł.30 billion on medical services a year. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A3) A.K.