Health care in Poland

In particular, the government is obliged to provide free health care to young children, pregnant women, disabled people, and the elderly.

The basis of the healthcare system is the primary care physician, who is most commonly a specialist in family health.

If sickness requires the intervention of a specialist, the first contact doctor issues referral to a hospital or other health care unit.

Primary care surgeries are open from Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. At other times the Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia has contracts with 24-hour medical service units.

[8] According to The Act 240 dated 27.08.2004 about Health Care Public Funding, access to health care services can be provided if patient is able to confirm having health insurance by presenting a document such as an Insurance card, an Insurance card for employee family members or a Pensionary card [9] Referral is required to get access to: Referral is not required for patients: Emergency Medical Services (Polish: Ratownictwo Medyczne, RM) in Poland are a service of public, pre-hospital emergency healthcare, including ambulance service, provided by the individual Polish cities and counties.

Services are typically provided by the local, publicly operated hospital, and are generally funded by the government of Poland.