Important: A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow

Hi everyone,

This is Very Important, I need for my australian boyfriend A Good Medical Center with English speaking doctors in Krakow.

A clinic where we can pay for consultation and blood tests, that is clean, with ok prices
and high standards of professionalism.

A clinic that can have all standard medical staff, like Dermatology, Urology, Gastroenterology, Medical Lab for Blood Analysis and so on.

I appreciate very much your help.

Any ideas will definitely help.

Thank you

medicover.com

Hi Marta

I have juat this week been to LIM Medical Center (Centrun Medyczne Lim) in Krakow. I needed to get a few blood tests etc done and saw a very professional doctor who spoke good English. Been there a couple of times now and all the Doctors I've seen have spoken good English. Seems very modern and clean as well.

Shouldn't he have health insurance as part of the residency requirements?

Only emergency care is required to be covered. And if you're covered by NFZ...well, I rest my case.

No he is not covered by any insurance. And the bureaucracy linked to a NFZ insurance is just too much for an australian. So we prefer to go and pay.

Thanks for the Medicover idea, past experiences of my friends with Medicover have been very unfortunate.

But Lim Center can be interesting to try out. cmlim.pl/en/Doctors

Any experiences from you, with any of the english speaking medical centers, would be really helpful.

Thanks again. Keep posting your ideas and recommendations.

Against the terms of his residence permit then.


What bureaucracy? You pay ZUS, you get NFZ cover. Doesn't matter where you're from, they don't care and don't want to know.

I'm sure you're aware that the Polish system will charge him a considerable amount if he's involved in an emergency situation - and that they'll make sure that his details are on SISone4all if he doesn't pay?

I just wish to find out good clinics where we can go in need of anything.

To wait for the insured NFZ system, and their appointments (the soonest you can get at cardiology an insured appointment is about 4 months of waiting just for simple consultation:(

is just not for us.

So we need to know where to go in case of anything, and also for complete blood tests.

Thank you

Medicover charges 200 - 250 PLN for a very simple standard 15-minutes consultation.

Is this normal? Because in my opinion, it is expensive...

Then go with an NFZ doctor.

normal consultation should be 150zl

that's very reasonable for the level of service and the language skills in my opinion. they also offer dirt cheap insurance.

define "dirtcheap insurance"

270zl a month for their top of the line coverage.

and what this 270 zl insurance covers? you get free consultations and free blood tests?

consultations, blood tests, as well as hospitalizations for things like...

Planned
- All planned hospitalization in the following departments: pediatrics, internal medicine, cardiology, gynecology (excluding pregnancy and delivery), and surgery;
- in addition, among others, the following procedures: by-pass surgery, arthroscopy, cystoscopy in general anesthesia, lithotripsy, kidney stone surgery, prostate biopsy, transurethral resection of prostate, cataract and glaucoma surgery, salivary gland surgery, tonsillectomy

It's fairly comprehensive for 270zl.

But I'm not a salesman, give them a call if you have questions. I know there are other providers out there as well. I've only used them for diagnostics here in Poland, but used them extensively in the Czech Republic.

270 zl per month... but still I have a feeling that this is a trap,... because you will be given long waiting (1-2 months) until the scheduling of your consultation or surgery... and many other bureaucratic usual polish bad surprises....

so how is it? anyone else actually USED this type of insurance?

Uh, not really. It's good private healthcare, in my opinion. Remember, costs are low here in Poland. Malpractice insurance is dirt cheap, salaries are low.

What do you suggest as an alternative?

We want to know as many options available as possible.

Convex thanks for your advices and opinions, maybe others can offer their advices and opinions also?

Kotreys

You might want to check out statmedica for options.

We have been in Krakow since Aug 1, 2009 and registered last month with the NFZ. My wife is a student and I am not working so NFZ is voluntary costing 46,80 zl per month. Our 6 year old has diabetes so we were a little concerned about what we would find witgh the NFZ. My conclusion so far is they are wonderful. We got our first pediatrician appointment within a few days and the referral to the Endocrinologist was 2 hours, she saw our son that afternoon. The young doctor spent over an hour asking the most relevant questions, an experience that far exceeded our experiences at both Children's Hospital in San Diego and in San Antonio where the doctors always seemed very busy and downright dismissive regarding our son's illness. Last week part of my tooth just fell out so I showed up at a NFZ dentist office the next morning having no idea what to expect. Again, a young female dentist, excellent English took really good care of me. I have learned enough Polish just to get by with basic phrases but have een able to get through the so-called formidable bureaucracy quite easily. The steps you need to follow are (1) get your Pesel #, (2) Go to the NFZ office, ul Baterego in Krakow, and sign up there for NFZ. You will need passports and Pesels for all family members. (3) Go to the ZUS office (ul. Pedichow in Krakow) and show proof of NFZ payment which can be done either online or at the Post Office. This visit has to be made every month by the 15th and you are paying for the month just completed. This stamped form will be requested by your NFZ medical provider on each visit. By the way the NFZ is not for travelers just passing through but for people like us who are living here. If you work here, NFZ is mandatory and will be taken out of your paycheck. Anyway, that's my experience. At all stages of the process the Polish employees have been friendly and helpful and so far the medical care way beyond our expectations.

Philip

Not quite true - there is a certain type of contract where paying ZUS isn't mandatory.

If you are looking for an alternative, we provide health insurances for expats living in Poland.

One of the benefits is that they are international health insurances, that are valid in almost all countries with very easy, quick and flexible reimbursement procedures.

And you can go to ANY medical center or ANY medical practitioner you want.

Prices depends on age and level of coverage you choose.

For example, if you are less than 30 years old, for about 90 dollars (70 Euros), you will have a full coverage of medical hospitalisation (surgery, associated expenses, individual room, physical rehabilitation...), and you will have a 90% coverage (90% of actual costs) for medical expenses (general or specialist medical fees, Analyses, X-rays, CT scans, MRI, drugs, physiotherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture...)

If interested, just drop us an email, and we will be happy to send you more information or even meet you.

Call the Doctors from doctor-krakow.pl

I need help. My son has sore throat and blisters in mouth, he would not eat and has fever. How I get immediate access to any english speaking doctor in krakow? I do have insurance covering us. I will appreciate useful information on how to see a doctor immediately. Thanks

You need to take him to hospital right away. If you have a friend who can translate, take them (or phone them, explain and give the phone to the doctor/nurse). If not, the hospital will do their best - they are used to everything.

Medicover provide English speaking doctors. I do not know what kind of insurance you referred to, but if you are not covered with Medicover (through your employer for example) you would have to pay them but it will not be too much.

You may want to look into getting cover with them permanently as they will ask you if you require an English speaking doctor when you call to make an appointment.

I am covered with them too and quite happy about their service. If they will not have a doctor available today themselves, they will find one for you with one of their partners.

medicover.pl/en/default.aspx

Thank you so very much for your quick responses. I will act right away

Merged: Taking blood tests in Poland (i am in Krakow) privately?

Hello, I need to do some blood tests and wonder how the system work in Poland.
Can I just walk into a private clinic and order the blood tests I want without prior doctors consultation?
I just want to walk in, tell them I want liver and kidney tests X & Y, pay in cash/visa, draw blood, get results, then leave.

Is this possible?

I am an EU citizen but not Polish.

thanks

In most places, you need a "skierowanie" = a doctor's prescription for such tests.

Why not? They'd take urine, wouldn't they? Go to a private lab and tell them what you want.

@Roger: if the guy has a (private) insurance, he needs a skierowanie. I have had several insurance programs (currently my 4th one) and in order to have services covered by the insurance, I need skierowanie. If no skierowanie, I'd pay and believe me, blood tests can be expensive (I had some costing over 200)