Red Tape hot box on The politicians' bitter pill
Usually, people with some cash in their pockets choose the second option-especially since time is quite an important factor when it comes to most health issues.
However, what was often a bit unnerving was that doctors used to receive patients in public hospitals, charging money for the check-ups, which after all were performed with public equipment. To cure this ailment, our parliamentarians came to the conclusion that it was time to change the law that permitted such abuses. It seems rather logical. There shouldn't be any private enterprise taking place in public hospitals. This is clearly a conflict of interest and everybody knows it.
Nevertheless, what seems to go unnoticed is that many private enterprises rent spaces in public hospitals where they install their own machines and do the diagnosis independently. If the new amendment passes, then those private companies that find themselves on public hospital territory will have to leave. This will not only present problems for private clinics and public hospital management, but also, and most of all, for patients.
Why? Well, it seems that many departments in public hospitals don't have modern machines for diagnosis. So instead of buying very expensive new machines, they pay the private clinics for their patients' check-ups. This procedure is less costly and often proves satisfactory for both public and private hospitals.
Moreover, it doesn't seem that the public hospitals will be privatized in the near future. There is no plan for it, and many doctors as well as parliamentarians oppose the idea. In this case, the new act would do more harm to public hospitals than help them. This is because without the possibility of renting diagnostic machines from private clinics or doing diagnosis there, on the spot, public hospitals will be forced to buy new machines. This in turn will mean that they will have to take out loans, because the money from the National Health Fund won't cover the costs.
Sooner or later the public hospitals will face a dilemma themselves-go bankrupt or start forcing patients to pay for all check-ups, finally proving that public health care in Poland no longer exists.
However, what was often a bit unnerving was that doctors used to receive patients in public hospitals, charging money for the check-ups, which after all were performed with public equipment. To cure this ailment, our parliamentarians came to the conclusion that it was time to change the law that permitted such abuses. It seems rather logical. There shouldn't be any private enterprise taking place in public hospitals. This is clearly a conflict of interest and everybody knows it.
Nevertheless, what seems to go unnoticed is that many private enterprises rent spaces in public hospitals where they install their own machines and do the diagnosis independently. If the new amendment passes, then those private companies that find themselves on public hospital territory will have to leave. This will not only present problems for private clinics and public hospital management, but also, and most of all, for patients.
Why? Well, it seems that many departments in public hospitals don't have modern machines for diagnosis. So instead of buying very expensive new machines, they pay the private clinics for their patients' check-ups. This procedure is less costly and often proves satisfactory for both public and private hospitals.
Moreover, it doesn't seem that the public hospitals will be privatized in the near future. There is no plan for it, and many doctors as well as parliamentarians oppose the idea. In this case, the new act would do more harm to public hospitals than help them. This is because without the possibility of renting diagnostic machines from private clinics or doing diagnosis there, on the spot, public hospitals will be forced to buy new machines. This in turn will mean that they will have to take out loans, because the money from the National Health Fund won't cover the costs.
Sooner or later the public hospitals will face a dilemma themselves-go bankrupt or start forcing patients to pay for all check-ups, finally proving that public health care in Poland no longer exists.
