Yesterday, doctors in over 200 hospitals went on strike. No wonder, the patients turn to private healthcare sector more and more often. According to SMG/KRC report made for PZU Zycie, 30 percent of the Poles have already visited private doctors. 59 percent of the polled asked why they chose private sector, said that it was because of shorter time of waiting for the visit. 55 percent of the patients believe private doctors offer better services while 41 percent believe they are better accessible.
“The worse the public healthcare sector is doing, the more clients private centers have”, Andrzej Mazgaz, deputy president of the Confederation of Polish Employers said.
1.5m people are estimated to pay for healthcare services, including 600,000-700,000 of people who have subscription.
“The market is growing because people are desperate. The state is not able to provide healthcare services within the insurance they pay”, Piotr Gerber, EMC Instytut Medyczny CEO commented.
The company’s hospital in Wroclaw increased in the first quarter private services sales by 28.7 percent.
According to SMG/KRC report a statistical Pole spends PLN 298 (EUR 78.8) annually for medical services, including those offered by public healthcare outlets.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.264)