Poland
In emergencies call 112 or 999 (ambulance) to obtain help.
Accessing care
With the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you can receive medically necessary treatment during a temporary stay in Poland. Medically necessary treatment means treatment that cannot wait until you return home. You may need such treatment, for example, due to sudden illness or an accident.
You can also receive treatment related to pregnancy, childbirth, or chronic illnesses. If you have a condition that requires regular treatment while you are staying abroad, contact a health care provider in advance to arrange the treatment.
The European Health Insurance Card does not guarantee free treatment and you will be charged the same amount as local residents. We recommend carrying additional copies of your card. If you do not have a European Health Insurance Card or if it is not accepted, you will need to pay the cost of treatment yourself. You can then apply for reimbursement from Kela afterward.
Sudden illness
Doctor
See a general practitioner who has an agreement with the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ). You can ask NFZ regional offices to provide you with the contact information of places of treatment that have an agreement with NFZ. You can identify these by the logo NFZ. If you need a specialist, you can consult one if you have a general practitioner´s referral. Exceptions are gynaecologist, obstetricians, dentists, specialists in sexually transmitted diseases (venerologist), oncologists and psychiatrists, who you can consult without a referral from a general practitioner.
When you show your European Health Insurance Card, and an ID at the appointment is treatment free of charge. General practitioner’s surgeries are generally open from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm. Outside office hours, weekends and on holidays, 24-hour medical treatment is provided by healthcare providers contracted to the NFZ whose contact information is available from NFZ´s regional offices or you can find them with a search engine at NFZ website (in Polish).
Dentist
See a dentist who has a contract with the NFZ. Present your European Health Insurance Card at the appointment.
Health insurance only includes a limited amount of free dental care. In addition, only some of the procedures performed by the dentist and the materials used are free of charge for patients. You can get a list of free services and materials determined by the Ministry of Health from dentists’ offices. You pay for services and materials outside the list yourself.
Medication
A prescription can be issued by a doctor or other healthcare professional entitled to issue prescription.
For most basic medication, you will pay a lump sum. Other medications are reimbursed in different rates. Some medications are not reimbursed at all.
In Poland, prescriptions are issued electronically. If you don’t have the Patient Internet Account, you need to ask your doctor to print out the e-prescription information form, and present it in a pharmacy together with the document entitling you to treatment.
In Poland, e-prescriptions are valid for
- 30 days for normal medicines and OTC medicines
- 7 days for antibiotics
- 120 days for immunological medicines
- 365 days for medicine for chronic diseases
- 30 days for prescriptions for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
To be valid for one year, the e-prescription requires an appropriate annotation by the doctor. Note that if your e-prescription is valid for one year, the first portion must be purchased within 30 days from the date the e-prescription is issued. You can stock up on medicine for up to 120 days in advance. You can search for reimbursable prescription providers on the NFZ website (in Polish).
In Poland, you can also buy medicines with an electronic prescription that your doctor wrote in Finland. The service is only available in some pharmacies in Poland. More pharmacies will join the scheme gradually. You can purchase the medication by showing your passport or official identity card in the pharmacy. However, note that not all medicines can be purchased with an electronic prescription abroad. Check the restrictions on the Kanta.fi website. You can claim reimbursement from Kela retrospectively.
Hospital treatment
In order to obtain hospital treatment, you generally need a doctor´s referral. In emergencies, you can go directly to a hospital´s emergency room (SOR). You will receive treatment free of charge at NFZ´s hospitals when you present your European Health Insurance Card and ID.
You will also receive ambulance transport free of charge with a valid European Health Insurance Card in case of an emergency.
If your illness requires you to use special transport when returning to Finland, you will be liable for the travel costs in their entirety. You are recommended to take out a travel insurance that covers these costs.
Read more about suddenly falling ill in Europe.
Read more about reimbursement of costs of treatment abroad.
Useful websites
If you want to travel to Poland to use healthcare services there, you should read our website for general information about seeking treatment abroad. If you have any questions about healthcare in Poland, contact the National Contact Point of Poland.
The National Contact Point of Poland can help you find a health care provider. More information is available on the website of the National Contact Point of Poland. You can get information about health care based on social security coordination in the European Union from the Polish National Health Fund by contacting them directly by e-mail ca17(at)nfz.gov.pl or by calling +48 22 572 62 68. You can also ask the regional divisions for more information (site in Polish).
You can find addresses of health care providers from NFZ’s website (in Polish). You can find more information about healthcare in Poland in English on the website of National Health Fund of Poland (NFZ).
Quality and safety of treatment
In Poland, the standards for the quality and safety of healthcare and the ethical principles of the provision of treatment are established by law. The Polish National Health Fund ensures that healthcare service providers in the public system comply with agreements. Comprehensive information about the quality and supervision of healthcare has been compiled on the website of the National Contact Point of Poland.
In the event of treatment injuries, the legislation and patient insurance of the country providing the treatment is always applied. In case you are unhappy with the treatment you received, you should primarily try to sort the matter out with the treatment provider. The national contact point can help you with finding the right authority if you wish to make a complaint.
Healthcare system
Poland has a decentralized health system based on mandatory public health insurance. The stewardship, management and financing of the system are divided between the Ministry of Health, the National Health Fund (Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia, NFZ) and territorial self-governments. The NFZ is responsible for financing health care services and agrees on the organisation of health services with both public and private service providers. Private service providers can also be used through public health services, as long as the service providers have an agreement with NFZ.
Private service providers handle a large part of basic and outpatient care. Public operators provide the majority of inpatient care in hospitals and other institutions and the rest is provided by private service providers.