“Zdrowie 2017” [Health 2017] Nurses and Doctors in the Polish Healthcare System

Abstract

Healthcare systems operate properly as long as there are enough skilful health professionals available. This paper compares the population of doctors and nurses in the healthcare system in Poland and in other European countries. We used statistical data gathered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Statistics Poland, Ministry of Health, as well as materials from the General Medical Council, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council in Poland. We made an attempt to find out why Poland ranks so low in the lists showing the number of practising doctors and nurses per 1,000 population. We identified the main sources of “inflows” (graduates of medical and nursing schools) and “outflows” (retirement, migration, people leaving medical professions) into/ from the pool of health professionals. Our goal was also to specify which areas necessitate systemic changes to increase the number of practising doctors and nurses. We decided that institutional changes are also needed: increasing the number of students admitted to medical schools, better working conditions for medical professionals, incentives to return to Poland, etc. Such changes combined with rising public expenditure may improve the performance of the healthcare system in Poland.