President Nawrocki surprised doctors. Their triumph yesterday proved premature.
- "Pressure makes sense" - announced the Supreme Medical Chamber on August 25, referring to President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the amendment to the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens
- The Act assumed, among other things, the return of provisions concerning one of the simplified procedures for issuing permits to practice medicine, to which NIL did not agree and appealed for a veto.
- On the same day, Karol Nawrocki submitted to the Sejm his own draft law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens, in which the provisions concerning doctors were retained
- "Such situations do not help build trust and introduce transparent rules. However, I believe that the government will approach the matter sensibly and thoroughly, analyzing the consequences for both patients and the healthcare system," says Jakub Kosikowski, spokesman for NIL.
"We are pleased to announce that, thanks to the decisive actions of the Supreme Medical Chamber, President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki did not sign the so-called Ukrainian law. The actions of the National Medical Chamber (NIL) have had an effect: the president vetoed the amendment to the special aid law – further proof that the voice of the medical self-government has real power," the Supreme Medical Chamber announced on August 25.
"The President of the Republic of Poland's decision is proof that the voices of doctors in Poland are being heard. From the outset, we have emphasized that patient safety must always take precedence over ad hoc political solutions. The veto demonstrates that joint, consistent pressure makes sense," commented Łukasz Jankowski, president of the National Medical Council.
The problem is that on the same day, President Nawrocki submitted a new draft law on aid for Ukrainian citizens to the Sejm. It still contains provisions that the Supreme Medical Chamber disagrees with and which it has called for to be vetoed.
"Unfortunately, there's been a significant amount of informational confusion surrounding the bill. On the one hand, there's yesterday's announcement of the presidential veto, along with assurances that the NIL has reviewed the arguments, while today we see that the new bill will maintain the conditional PWZ procedures. Perhaps the legislative confusion is also a problem – the provisions in question aren't explicitly mentioned, but are, in fact, a hidden amendment to an amendment," Jakub Kosikowski, NIL spokesperson, told Rynek Zdrowia.
"Such situations do not help build trust or introduce transparent rules. However, I believe that the government will approach this matter sensibly and thoroughly, analyzing the consequences for both patients and the healthcare system. This requires clear, consistent communication and serious debate, not multiplying doubts. We await further developments," he adds.
As a reminder, on August 25, President Karol Nawrocki vetoed an amendment to the law on assistance to Ukrainian citizens. The document also addressed the law on the medical and dental professions. It included provisions reinstating one of the simplified procedures for obtaining a license to practice for Ukrainian doctors .
After the bill was passed by Parliament, the Supreme Medical Chamber warned about the consequences of reinstating these provisions, arguing that there were no effective mechanisms to control the qualifications of these doctors, their diplomas and language skills.
The local government appealed to the president to veto the act, but also to take a legislative initiative aimed at completely eliminating simplified procedures for granting the right to practice the profession , which is "necessary to ensure patient safety and maintain the coherence and transparency of the healthcare system in Poland."
The Chamber argued that physicians from across the eastern border may have lower qualifications because the educational programs at Ukrainian medical universities often do not meet the standards in force in Poland, and therefore do not guarantee that such individuals will apply up-to-date medical knowledge.
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