PLN 270 million in overpayments. Lack of funds for surgeries, patients being turned away.

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• Due to the exhaustion of the annual funding limits by the National Health Fund, some planned procedures in Pomeranian hospitals will be postponed until 2026.
• At the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk, the shifts include cardiology, cardiac surgery, orthopedics and urology.
• At Pomeranian Hospitals, if a patient's health condition is stable, benefits are deferred to the next billing period. This applies, among other things, to hip and knee replacement procedures.

Jakub Kraszewski, the general director of the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk, told PAP that due to the limited financing of services by the National Health Fund, the hospital is forced to postpone some of them until next year.

"This is because, over the course of ten months, the hospital has delivered the volume of services planned for this year, and even overdelivered them, meaning it was ahead of the plan for 2025. Therefore, if the National Health Fund does not provide financing for the additional services, the hospital will be forced to postpone them to the earliest possible date," he said.

He added that the shifts concern, among others, cardiology, cardiac surgery, orthopedics and urology.

He assured that patient safety remains key for the hospital, which is why this mechanism does not cover the youngest patients, as well as oncology, hematology, transplantation patients and those using drug programs.

"This also does not negatively impact diagnostics or the provision of outpatient services, i.e., in highly specialized clinics. Of course, there are no changes to procedures related to life-saving procedures," he added.

The hospital reported that the value of unfinanced overperformance for the period January-September 2025 exceeds PLN 270 million.

Pomeranian Hospitals - overperformance of nearly PLN 110 million

Małgorzata Pisarewicz , spokeswoman for the company Szpitale Pomorskie (whose president was Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda before moving to the Ministry of Health), told PAP that the overpayment of services for the period from January to September 2025 amounts to nearly PLN 110 million, including nearly PLN 80 million for limited services and approximately PLN 30 million for unlimited services. She emphasized that these figures are from mid-October of this year.

She added that overperformance also occurs in the PSZ, i.e. the Basic Hospital Healthcare Benefits System.

"If the patient's health condition is stable, benefits provided under the PSZ lump sum are carried forward to the next settlement period. This applies, among other things, to hip and knee replacement procedures performed, in particular, at the Orthopedics Department of the hospital in Wejherowo, " she said.

She added that recently, 120 procedures were canceled within the Orthopedics Department at St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Gdynia, which operates within the Pomeranian Hospitals .

In Kościerzyna, services are provided in accordance with the contract

Marta Lorek, representative of the Specialist Hospital in Kościerzyna, informed that the facility does not anticipate any postponements or limitations on the number of planned procedures and services.

- The hospital is functioning without interruption, and our priority remains ensuring patients have full access to medical services - she assured.

She added that the hospital had not received new guidelines from the National Health Fund regarding the restriction of the implementation of services above the limits.

- We provide services in accordance with the contract - she said.

She also assured that the facility is monitoring the organizational situation to prevent situations in which patients could experience difficulties in accessing planned treatment.

- All actions undertaken by the hospital are aimed at maintaining the continuity and quality of services provided - she added.

Gap in the National Health Fund's finances

At the end of October, the National Health Fund (NFZ) Headquarters announced that the National Health Fund (NFZ) had received an additional PLN 3.5 billion from the state budget for settlements with medical facilities. The total subsidy for the Fund in 2025 amounted to PLN 31 billion.

The money is intended to finance contracts with healthcare providers in the Silesian and Masovian Voivodeships and the needs of other regions, including payments for drugs in drug and chemotherapy programs and for unlimited over-performance.

The National Health Fund headquarters announced that, at the request of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, approximately PLN 1 billion from bonds will soon be transferred to the National Health Fund.

The PLN 3.5 billion subsidy received by the Fund reduces this year's gap in the National Health Fund budget to approximately PLN 10.5 billion.

In early October, the Ministry of Health reported that the Fund was short of approximately PLN 14 billion this year to settle benefits. Following these reports, a decision was made to inject funds into the National Health Fund from the reserves of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and from budget reserves designated by the Ministry of Finance, as announced by the Minister of Health.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Health, the financial gap will amount to PLN 23 billion in 2026.

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