Medical Council Chief Decries Salary Disparities and Overwork in Healthcare
Dr. Łukasz Jankowski, head of the Supreme Medical Council, has called for systemic reforms to address extreme wage gaps, physician fatigue, and the need for standardized working hours across Poland’s...
Dr. Łukasz Jankowski, head of the Supreme Medical Council, has called for systemic reforms to address extreme wage gaps, physician fatigue, and the need for standardized working hours across Poland’s healthcare sector.
Table Of Content
The Reality of Wage Disparities
Dr. Łukasz Jankowski admitted that the medical community itself is struggling to locate the source of extreme “salary chimneys,” noting it is a deep injustice that while some earn 11,000 PLN gross, others pull in 300,000 PLN monthly. He emphasized that this stratification is demoralizing for young doctors and discourages development in departments where procedures are undervalued.
He countered the myth that 90 percent of hospital budgets go to physician salaries, clarifying that this figure covers the entire staff, with doctors accounting for only 20 to 30 percent of those costs. While he noted that wages have risen from disgracefully low levels to respectable figures, he argued that Poland has European-level earnings without the corresponding European-level system.
Addressing Overwork and Safety
The head of the Medical Council supports the introduction of tachographs to monitor physicians’ working hours, calling the current situation—where some work over 400 or 500 hours a month—a pathology that endangers patient safety. He proposed a maximum limit of 78 working hours per week, in line with European Union standards.
Jankowski stated that young doctors suggest two average national salaries would be sufficient. For specialists, the professional community previously proposed a target of three average national salaries to help curb the exodus of talent to foreign markets. The average national salary in the first quarter of this year was 9,562.88 PLN gross.
Government Oversight and Reform
Prime Minister Donald Tusk has demanded urgent systemic solutions regarding wage irregularities, service valuation, and hospital organization. Government officials are expected to present proposals for reforms, including electronic registration and stricter regulations on physician working hours, following disclosures of financial irregularities at Warsaw’s Southern Hospital.