Poland's health minister proposes 240 PLN hourly cap for doctors, faces pushback from medical chamber

The reform package

On 8 July, Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda presented a set of proposed changes aimed at increasing transparency and patient safety in Poland's healthcare system. The package includes a maximum hourly wage of 240 PLN gross for medical staff, a cap on payroll spending at 60% of hospital budgets financed by the National Health Fund (NFZ), and a requirement for doctors to be employed at least half-time in one facility, with employer consent needed for additional work. Hospitals would also be banned from contracting with doctor-owned companies, a practice linked to recent scandals.

I am firm on this, because I believe it is the minimum for patient safety. I would like to see medics who see their patient not only during the procedure.

Wage limits and employment rules

The ministry argues that current wage growth is unsustainable. The average share of payroll in hospital budgets from NFZ funds already stands at 81.3%, and the cumulative cost of the 2026 wage increase (8.82% from 1 July) will reach 71 billion PLN, one-third of the NFZ budget. The fund is already facing a 16 billion PLN deficit. The proposed 60% cap is intended to free up resources for other needs, but hospital representatives say it can only work if service pricing is adjusted to boost revenues.

Reactions from the medical community

On 9 July, the minister met with Łukasz Jankowski, head of the Supreme Medical Chamber (NIL). Jankowski expressed disappointment, saying the proposals contained "a lot of words, a lot of declarations, but still few specifics." He warned that capping wages without addressing access to specialists could push doctors into the private sector and worsen queues. NIL supports eliminating wage outliers but wants safeguards to prevent an exodus from public hospitals.

We must create a system that makes wage outliers disappear while keeping access to specialists undisturbed. That was missing—information on how to shorten queues, how to ensure access to medics.

Expert warnings

Dr hab. Małgorzata Gałązka-Sobotka, rector of Łazarski University, described the situation as "putting out a fire that has been burning for years," noting that the system's decomposition had been building long before recent scandals. Dr Jerzy Gryglewicz from the same university cautioned that the 240 PLN limit might cause some specialists, particularly those performing procedures, to leave for the private sector, potentially closing some hospital wards and lengthening queues. He added that the proposals lacked concrete measures to actually reduce waiting times.

We are talking about monitoring the queue, but not about what to do to shorten it. What good is it for a patient to see themselves in a queue for two years?

Next steps

The ministry plans to present more detailed proposals at the next meeting of the Trilateral Team for Health Protection on 16 July. The central e-registration system, which will create a unified electronic queue for planned procedures, is to be fully operational by the end of 2026. The minister insists the reforms are concrete and necessary, while coalition partner New Left supports the wage cap but also calls for a broader overhaul of healthcare financing, including replacing the health insurance contribution with a health tax.