Planned medical procedures should be limited or temporarily suspended to ensure capacity for the growing number of COVID-19 patients, recommends the body that funds Poland’s public health system.
Daily infection numbers in Poland have been increasingly rapidly since early February, with the government declaring that the country is now experiencing the third wave of the virus.
Hospitalisations have also increased significantly over that time. As of this morning, 18,105 patients were in hospital with COVID-19, according to health ministry data. That is the highest since December and moving towards the peak of 23,033 recorded at the height of the second wave in November.
In a statement issued yesterday by the National Health Fund (NFZ), which it said was made by order of the health minister, it recommended “limiting to the necessary minimum or temporarily suspending the provision of scheduled services in order to provide additional hospital beds for patients requiring urgent admission”.
The restrictions are to be applied to a range of diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical procedures, including spinal corrective treatments, vascular surgeries, coronary bypasses, major thoracic surgeries, intracranial procedures, nephrectomies and hysterectomies. Cancer diagnostics and treatments are excluded, however.
The NFZ advises that the postponement of procedures should be individually assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking account of the health risks of the delay as well as the likelihood of the patient’s condition worsening.
WAŻNE!
W związku z rozwojem epidemii #koronawirus, na polecenie @a_niedzielski, ministra zdrowia @MZ_GOV_PL, @NFZ_Centrala zaleca ograniczenie do niezbędnego minimum lub czasowe zawieszenie udzielania świadczeń wykonywanych planowo. #COVID19
SZCZEGÓŁY ⤵️https://t.co/9qGuP357R6
— Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia (@NFZ_Centrala) March 8, 2021
Poland last year recorded its highest number of deaths in any year since WWII, with around 80,000 more than the recent annual average. Of those, “only” around 28,500 were officially recorded as Covid-related.
Many of the remainder are believed to have been indirect victims of the pandemic, as overwhelmed hospitals cut back on other services and some patients were more reluctant to seek treatment.
In the autumn, there were reports of hospitals turning away patients as the healthcare system struggled to deal with growing numbers of cases. The government moved to create a network of emergency field hospitals around the country.
Main image credit: sasint/Pixabay (under Pixabay License)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
