“They are breaking the law, they are breaking the constitutional order, they are breaking every kind of social order in doing so. They mock all of this, remain in good spirits, and believe that nothing will happen to them because of it. I hope they will be in for a harsh disappointment,” said PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, commenting on the dire situation at the hospital in Żywiec.
Since Monday, a “black protest” has been underway at more than 100 county hospitals across Poland, driven by the poor financial condition of these institutions, partly due to unsettled payments for services exceeding contracted limits. The Ministry of Health has announced plans to consolidate hospitals.
According to the PiS leader, those in power “are only capable of announcing initiatives which, in reality, are meant to reduce costs.” “I suspect that behind all of this there is a privatization agenda,” he stated.
“I also believe that this is a major business opportunity […] but on the other hand, it is a matter of incompetence, the inability of this government, which simply cannot, does not want to, and is unable to control abuses and, as a result, is unable to govern a fully functioning state, that is, one that also ensures healthcare protection,”
he said.
He emphasized that “Poland is no longer a poor country.” “Therefore, we can now afford a healthcare system at a good level, pay doctors well, pay nurses well […] we can ensure that all expenditures are rational […] that everything is maintained at a reasonable level, considering our GDP, which is no longer small, and the needs of those who use the system, namely patients,” he added, stressing that “patients” are not “customers.”
Commenting on the statement by Maciej Berek, who opposes paying funds to hospitals for services exceeding contracted limits, he said that the government representative “is adopting rules from a completely different domain in a way that is unacceptable.” “Medicine is not a field of commerce, it is not a field of industrial production […] it is a separate domain that entirely different rules should govern. The point here is to treat people […] and to ensure they have a normal, long life,”
he said.
Kaczyński also referred to the situation in Żywiec. The local hospital reported that the National Health Fund (NFZ) proposed a payment of PLN 109 as compensation for all excess services provided in 2025. The facility stated that the actual value of medical services delivered beyond the limits exceeded PLN 24 million.
“These are mockeries. This is no longer just a scandal. It is a mockery of the hospital, of patients, of all Poles […] an outright farce that must be clearly described and condemned. They mock patients, doctors, and the very duties of the state. They are breaking the law, breaking the constitutional order, and undermining all social order in doing so. They make a mockery of it all, remain in good spirits, and believe that nothing will happen to them because of it. I hope they will be in for a harsh disappointment,”
he said.
