Is this the end of queues for doctors? We know when the faster and simpler method of registration comes into force

Queues to see specialists are a really big problem for patients in our country and a huge challenge for the health care system. In February this year, Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna announced an important change in the method of registering with a doctor. Registration is to be much faster and simpler thanks to the possibility of using e-registration. At the beginning, such simplified registration rules will apply only to a few specialists. We know when this new registration method will start.

When will central e-registration start working?

On Tuesday (April 16, 2024), the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna, announced on the Third Program of Polish Radio when exactly the central e-registration will start operating. “I will definitely want to introduce it from June 1,” said the head of the Ministry of Health. She also noted that at the very beginning of the program it will be addressed to a specific group of patients – electronic visits will only be possible with doctors of certain specializations. It is known from the Minister of Health's previous statements that this will most likely apply to oncology and cardiology, because this is where shortening queues is most important.

This special e-registration is intended to be used by patients to sign up for appointments, but also to cancel them, which is extremely important so as not to take up places for patients who are also waiting for a consultation with a given specialist. The Minister of Health announced that special coordinators will take care of this. However, you can now speed up the process of waiting for an appointment with any specialist – check how to get to a doctor faster. Some people are also entitled to a visit without waiting – so it is worth familiarizing yourself with the current list of people entitled to access to a doctor without waiting in line.

There will also be a special hotline for faster registration

Not everyone has the opportunity to use a computer or the Internet to make an appointment with a doctor. This applies especially to older people. The Ministry of Health is also prepared for such situations – people who have problems with efficient navigation on the Internet will be able to use a hotline dedicated to registration.

Today, older people and seniors have phones and thanks to the hotline they will be able to register, said Izabela Leszczyna.

However, during an interview with “Trójka”, the Minister of Health emphasized that launching such universal e-registration is a complex process. However, the head of the Ministry of Health declared that this term the availability of doctors will be greater and the queues will be shorter.

Such a system will certainly be introduced. If a private facility allows you to book an appointment with a specialist by text message or e-mail, reminds you about it and allows you to easily cancel it, such a solution can and should be introduced in the public health care system. However, we must remember that it is more complicated than in the case of private entities, because the scope of activities of public entities is much wider than that of private clinics – explained the Minister of Health in February this year in an interview with Wirtualna Polska.