Poland's Health Care System - NFZ

As you may or may not know, Poland's national health service is in a funk by most countries' standards and the privatization issue is has been getting lots of press for a long time. If you live in France, Canada, UK, Holland, etc (any country other than the USA) I am interested in your frank opinions on the efficacy of your system. Long lines? Inept doctors? Problems? Had enough of the press brainwashing on both ends of the spectrum - looking for personal insight and observations..

Scottish Government are seeking to scrap efficacy targets introduced by London as clinical staff were focussing on meeting their targets rather than a patient focussed service.

The last time I went to a Polish state doctor, he completely misdiagnosed my injury (said it was a broken bone rather than snapped ligaments) and then gave what would have been the wrong treatment even if his diagnosis had been correct. After spending five days in agony, I went to a private doctor and got excellent treatment at a fairly reasonable price (600zl for everything).

National Health Service in the UK is okay, but is very over stretched and has a problem with 'struggling' foreign doctors.

They are however getting wise to 'health tourists' those that get off a flight at Stanstead and pop to the local A&E with something that more than likely will need an admittance. I read in a medical mag recently (most of my family work for NHS so this kind of literature is available) a foreigner came into the A&E at a hospital in the SE of England and wanted treatment, after the hospital staff asked for payment (they ask for payment upfront these days because so many give false detail and then sod of back to where they came from) they were told by aforementioned ‘health tourist’ you are a rich country and health care is free here, why should I pay, a doctor was summoned and explained it like this.

He asked if the patient had a mobile, the patient then replied he did, the doctor asked if he was on contract or pay as you go, the patient responded that he was on pay as you go, the doctor then explained that the National Health Service was like pay as you go, that people in England paid their NI on a weekly / monthly basis and this gave them the right to free treatment. So basically if you don’t pay you don’t get a service.

Going back to the point of being overstretched, maternity wards can't cope, even though the indiginous population is in decline there are more and more babies being born. Then there is the cost of treating patients from the Sub Sahara who come here with AIDS, it all adds up.

So in short, the system in my opinion is okay, but the infrastructure is bowing under the weight of the flood of new comers.

Or the old...

I think they have a right to it since they have paid in for 50 odd years!!!! besides most are in 3rd rate nursing homes where some ill qualified person looks after them!...

And some are returned from hospital with more illnesses than they had before...

Infections are easy to pick up....or are you jumping on the band waggon that our health service is in crisis and all hospitals are bug ridden!....Virus's get stronger and the stronger the cleaning fluids the more resistent...or do you have some magical cure?

Is it just me or do other people experience a sense of panic when their NHS doctor doesn't speak English sufficiently to explain coherently what the problem is?

Not just you, trust me it isn't just their spoken English that is bad their written English is 100 times worse which when writing case notes isn't the best! It is BIG problem in the NHS but when someone tries to discipline these people they cry racism and take all kinds of greivances out against senior personnel which costs time and money...

From New Delhi to Darjeeling
I have done my share of healing,
And I've never yet been beaten or outboxed,
I remember that with one jab
Of my needle in the Punjab
How I cleared up beriberi
And the dreaded dysentery,
But your complaint has got me really foxed.

Goodness gracious Doc, can you just write me a prescription or something?