A press conference with the Patient Ombudsman on improving the quality of care for patients with chronic pain was held in the Sejm, during a meeting of the Parliamentary Group on Patients' Rights.
The conference was preceded by a debate that addressed the treatment pathway for chronic pain patients in Poland. During the event, Bartłomiej Chmielowiec, addressed new system solutions for improving the quality of care for chronic pain patients.
The meeting of the Patients' Rights Team was chaired by Violetta Porowska MP, who emphasised the importance of the entry into force of the Regulation of the Minister of Health on the organisational standard for pain treatment in outpatient settings. This standard requires the doctor to assess, monitor and appropriately treat chronic pain.
- I am pleased that the organisational standard for pain treatment has found its way into our legal order. It fulfils the content of Article 20a of the Act on Patient Rights and Patient Ombudsman, i.e. the right to pain treatment. It will be implemented in all medical facilities - said Bartłomiej Chmielowiec - The biggest challenge will be the smooth implementation of this standard. The first step towards this is patient education with the support of NGOs. We will keep informing them about this standard. The second is to educate medical institutions in cooperation with the Polish Society of Family Medicine. We will also take systemic measures to gather information on how the standard has been implemented in individual medical facilities - added the Ombudsman.
Adam Niedzielski, Minister of Health, emphasised the importance of pain management as part of the reform of coordinated care in primary care. - We are building pain patient pathways with a coordinator in the form of a PCP. This solution will reduce queues at the specialist treatment level - said the Minister.
On 23 March 2017, an amendment to the Act on Patients' Rights and Patients' Ombudsman was passed, which guarantees, to every patient, the right to pain relief. Until 2017, this right was only guaranteed to patients in a terminal state. On 9 February 2023, the regulation of the Minister of Health on the organisational standard of pain treatment in the outpatient setting was published. This is the first standard for pain management in Poland. The regulation systematises various aspects of chronic or acute pain treatment, indicating a pathway for management. By 24 August 2023, all medical facilities should comply with the standards set before this organisational standard.
Alongside the Minister of Health, the Patient Ombudsman is the honorary patron of the Nie Musi Boleć Campaign, organised by the Polish Association for the Study of Pain and the Experts for Health Foundation.
Representatives from the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine of the Medical University of Gdansk, the National Institute of Geriatrics, Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and the Polish Society of Family Medicine also participated in the debate.
According to epidemiological studies, there are 27% adults in Poland suffering from chronic pain, who function on a daily basis with chronic pain of varying severity and aetiology. 20% of these individuals declare that they would not be able to tolerate more severe pain. According to expert opinion, treatment of these patients should be multidirectional.
Source: https://www.gov.pl/web/rpp