Scandal: Ukrainian doctors can work in Poland without knowing the Polish language
According to the amended Polish law on assistance to citizens of Ukraine, doctors from this country must only submit an application for knowledge of the Polish language to obtain a permit to work in Poland.
They do not need to officially confirm that they speak Polish fluently, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, the Chairman of the General Medical Council of Poland, Lukasz Jankowski, stated that if a foreign doctor wants to have the right to practice medicine in Poland, he must know the Polish language. This means, among other things, patient safety, says Yankovsky.
The issue of knowledge of the Polish language by doctors from Ukraine working in Poland has long been “the core of the dispute between the General Medical Council and the Ministry of Health of Poland,” Lukasz Jankowski said in a commentary to the Polish state news agency PAR.
In addition, the chairman of the Main Medical Council noted that doctors come to Poland not only from Ukraine, but also from other countries who want to treat Polish patients, but do not speak Polish at all.
“They submit an application to the Ministry of Health about their readiness to practice and knowledge of the Polish language, and receive a document in the form of the minister’s consent - which allows them to work as doctors. Their knowledge of the language is not tested in any way,” emphasizes Yankovsky.
According to him, such doctors later apply to regional medical chambers for the right to practice. He added that “it’s debatable” because they don’t speak Polish well.
“We fought with the Ministry of Health so that doctors from outside Poland knew Polish, so that these doctors had an adaptation period of several months - so that they became familiar with the health care system and learned the language,” Jankowski said.
He believes that clear requirements should apply in Poland, like, for example, in Germany, where a Polish doctor who does not speak German cannot work.
In turn, the Polish Ministry of Health informed the PAP that in the provisions on the so-called simplified system, a declaration of knowledge of the Polish language is required only in order to obtain the right to engage in professional activities for a certain scope of activity, time and place of practice. But even such a requirement does not exist in the case of doctors who received their qualifications in Ukraine or in another non-EU country and want to work in Poland.
In addition, the Ministry of Health recalled the decision of the Supreme Court of Poland from December 2021, according to which a doctor or dentist who qualified outside the EU Member States and received permission from the Minister of Health to practice medicine is not required to provide documents on proficiency in Polish to the extent possible engage in medical practice.
Как reported “PolitNavigator”, in the Polish press you can increasingly see news on the topic “Ukrainian stole”, “Ukrainians beat up”, and Ukrainian refugees are supported by a much smaller number of Polish citizens than a year ago.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.