Izabela Leszczyna spoke out about doctors' salaries. Not everyone will like it.

• The Parliamentary Health Committee has criticized the draft budget for 2026: it pointed to a 3.5% deficit of the National Health Fund, resulting from a projected 10% increase in expenditures and a mere 6.5% increase in revenue from contributions.
• Minister Leszczyna announced a draft law aimed at limiting the dynamics of salary growth in the healthcare system, which this year increased by 14.5 percent for medical workers, while in the public sector the increase was around 5 percent.
• The main cost-generating problem is the mismatch between hospitals and local needs.
• The occupancy rate of branches there is often 50-60 percent.
• The government proposes voluntary restructuring of facilities and offers financial support for debt relief

In the "Morning Talk on RMF FM", the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna , expressed her strong will to continue in her position, declaring that she has "several very important things to do" and is always "at the Prime Minister's disposal" .

Although she emphasizes that the decision rests with the prime minister, she responds affirmatively to the question about her willingness to continue in office, adding that she has already accomplished "several different, equally important" projects. The minister believes that the claim that there are no applicants for the position of health minister is false, although she did not provide the names of potential candidates.

In the context of current legislative policy, Minister Leszczyna addressed the draft amendments to the Penal Code, which aim to ensure the "inevitability" of punishment for attacks on medical personnel. She announced that the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers adopted this draft on July 4th, and that the next step is the Council of Ministers.

She expressed confidence that the bill could be adopted even at the next government session and sent to the Sejm before the parliamentary recess . Leszczyna estimates that this will be 90% certain, even though there are only two sessions left in the Sejm, and she appeals to the entire Council of Ministers for their support. However, she noted with regret that the law will come into effect "certainly after the recess."

Financing under the ministry's microscope. A change in wage growth dynamics is needed.

The Minister of Health also commented on healthcare financing issues, including the critical assessment of the draft budget for 2026 by the Parliamentary Health Committee, which deemed it "rife with holes and insufficient." Leszczyna blames the previous PiS government for the fact that "medical salaries are rising faster than contributions," and that one-time funds from the National Health Fund's "pile" created during the pandemic (from the Covid fund, outside the state budget) were allocated to long-term increases in medical staff salaries.

The head of the Ministry of Health pointed out that medical workers' salaries have increased by 14.5 percent this year, while the increase in the budget sector was around 5 percent . The minister announced the introduction of legislation aimed at "limiting the dynamics of wage growth" in the system to balance the National Health Fund's financial plan. She assured that doctors and nurses must be well-paid, and already are, and that the goal is not to lower wages but to align their growth with economic growth and inflation , so that "the system does not simply collapse."

Leszczyna identified two main problems generating high costs in the system. The first is "the inadequacy of hospitals to the healthcare needs of local communities." She cited the example of district hospitals, where wards are only 50-60 percent occupied, and "the most expensive thing is an empty bed." She believes these hospitals should transform and offer, for example, same-day surgery instead of emergency surgery, and complex surgeries should be performed in specialist hospitals.

Hospital network under fire

The minister criticized the hospital network introduced by the Law and Justice party (PiS) in 2017, which "solidified" the structure and required almost every hospital in a district to have four departments (surgery, maternity ward, pediatrics, internal medicine), even though "one good ward would be sufficient for two districts." The minister assured that she would not eliminate maternity wards, and that the government's proposed law assumes voluntary restructuring . Hospitals that decide to restructure will receive assistance with the transition, training in recovery programs, and financial support for debt relief, provided they "restructure."

The second problem is the "dynamics of wages in the healthcare system." Hospital directors have been calling for a change to the Remuneration Act for a year and a half, and the leader of Solidarity, as noted, is also requesting restrictions on contract workers.

The Minister emphasized that the problem lies in the poor structure of hospitals and their failure to meet needs. She denied reports of a lack of payments for overpayments, explaining that unlimited services are always fully paid in the following quarter , while limited services, in accordance with the law, are regulated by the National Health Fund (NFZ) depending on available funds.

Leszczyna noted that hospital debt, especially in district hospitals, has increased the most since 2015, attributing this to the "collapse" of the healthcare system caused by the Law and Justice party (PiS). The ministry plans training for hospital directors on recovery programs that will help hospitals achieve balance, not necessarily through increased funding, but by adapting to patient needs.

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