The Ministry of Health has addressed the widespread controversy surrounding the Medical University of Silesia’s decision to liquidate the pediatric oncology and hematology ward in Katowice and transfer young patients to Zabrze. <\/p>\n
The decision by the Medical University of Silesia to liquidate the pediatric oncology and hematology ward in Katowice and transfer small patients to Zabrze has echoed loudly. Parents, doctors, and foundations helping children with cancer appealed to restore the ward, and now the Ministry of Health has addressed the matter, stating in a communication that it remains in contact with university and hospital authorities and expects actions in the interest of patients.<\/p>\n
On July 1st, the Silesian Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology in Zabrze began operations, formed by merging the wards from Katowice and Zabrze. On the same day, a team of six doctors from the Katowice ward, who were supposed to continue working in the new facility, submitted their resignations.<\/p>\n
The main reason for the medics’ departure was reservations regarding patient safety and the lack of proper organizational preparation. Doctors pointed out that the center had not developed procedures for treating children with solid tumors and nervous system tumors, which they previously handled and which require a multi-specialist infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, they criticized the decision to staff the three-story, 58-bed facility with only one duty doctor and the necessity of transporting young patients for specialist consultations to Katowice, located 25 km away.<\/p>\n
Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kacperczyk stated that the ministry is monitoring the matter and is in contact with the hospital management and the rector of the Medical University of Silesia, hoping solutions will be worked out so patients do not suffer.<\/p>\n
Asked about the possibility of restoring the pediatric oncology ward to the Upper Silesian Child Health Center in Katowice, demanded by doctors and some parents, the deputy minister did not declare ministry actions in that direction, noting the matter is left in the hands of the hospital management and that the ministry has not set a deadline for resolving the problem.<\/p>\n
Doctors maintained that their decision was related to the assessment of the center’s preparation for treating children with brain and solid tumors and work organization, rather than remuneration, having informed management about these concerns for about a year and a half before the facility opened.<\/p>\n
The medics questioned the management’s argument regarding the number of employed doctors, pointing out that patient safety is determined by the availability of experienced specialists and diagnostic infrastructure rather than the number of full-time equivalents, and again appealed to restore the pediatric oncology ward to the Katowice GCZD.<\/p>\n
Zabrze hospital director Dariusz Budzi\u0144ski maintained that the center was prepared organizationally and staffed, and that difficulties resulted from simultaneous resignations just before the launch, forcing the facility to immediately implement emergency procedures due to a sudden increase in organizational risk.<\/p>\n
The facility published a statement confirming it currently lacks a specialist experienced in coordinating pediatric neuro-oncology due to the departure of the previous team, but assured patients will not be left without care, as scheduled examinations and chemotherapy will continue, with each case evaluated individually and new specialized facilities indicated in discharge documentation.<\/p>\n
Currently, the Silesian Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology employs 9 specialist doctors and 9 resident doctors, with work and duty organization modified and adjusted to the current number and clinical condition of hospitalized patients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Ministry of Health has addressed the widespread controversy surrounding the Medical University of Silesia’s decision to liquidate the pediatric oncology and hematology ward in Katowice and transfer young patients to Zabrze. Ministry Response to Ward Closure The decision by the Medical University of Silesia to liquidate the pediatric oncology and hematology ward in Katowice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-and-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}