Poland’s Ministry of Health, MOH, has embarked on a series of reforms and advancements in nursing development which have contributed to improved health outcomes for the population. The country is currently undergoing reforms to introduce integrated primary care with the support of the World Bank.
IFIC’s Maggie Langins took part in a World Health Organization mission to provide technical assistance to the Department of Nursing and Midwifery at the Ministry of Health, MOH, Poland, on how to strengthen the role of the department in supporting new reform and carving out roles for nurses in the multidisciplinary teams tasked with delivering the integrated primary care services.
The mission was led by the WHO European Centre for Primary Health Care, in collaboration with IFIC, the International Council of Nurses and the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board of Wales in the United Kingdom.
This workshop benefitted from the inclusion of a range of nursing and non- nursing stakeholders including representatives from the World Bank, the National Health Fund, the Department of Nurses and Midwives, patient representatives, General Practitioners from the Centrum Medyczno-Diagnostyczne, the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, the National Trade Union of Nurses and Midwives, the Center for Postgraduate Education of Nurses and Midwives, the Polish Nursing Association, the Polish Midwives Association, and the Medical University in Lodz .
Maggie said: “Poland already has done so much to strengthen the role of nursing and raise their capacity. This reform offers an excellent opportunity to put this increasing capacity into practice and shows how diversifying the group of professionals delivering primary care can improve patients access to primary care services. Not to mention what great momentum can be achieved by bringing various stakeholders around the table.”