According to the Central Statistical Office, the CSO calculations show that in 2024 Public current expenses increased to PLN 229.1 billion, i.e. by PLN 37.1 billion compared to 2023. In 2024, the share of these expenses in GDP amounted to 6.3 percent. (in 2023 5.6 percent).
On the other hand Private current expenses, including Household expenses, increased in 2024 by PLN 9.9 billion and reached PLN 64.5 billion. In this system, direct household spending is PLN 47.6 billion.
Despite such a high increase in expenses in Poland, the belief is still dominating that we spend too little on health care. However, such a belief is wrong.
This is noted by dr Małgorzata Gałązka-Sobotka, economist and director of the Institute of Management in the health care of the Lazarski University in Warsaw. In a statement for the daily Rzeczpospolita, he notices directly that GUS data contradict this widespread belief. The expert emphasizes that the dynamics of expenditure growth last year was surprising, and the higher share of expenditure in GDP shows that Poland is approaching the EU average.
The problems of the Polish system are, in her opinion, elsewhere. The expert notes that The amount of expenses does not reflect real improvement in the system. The key is how many benefits can be obtained for this money, as shown by reports of the National Health Fund.
The latest data for 2024 indicate that despite much more expenditure, the number of procedures performed only slightly increased. Expenses for hospital care, which constitute over two fifth of all health funds (in 2023 it was 43 percent), increased by 12 percent, while the number of procedures increased by 6 % and the number of patients only by 2 percent.
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An even greater discrepancy can be seen in specialist outpatient care. In 2024, it was spent almost twice as much public funds than a year ago, but the number of procedures increased by only 6 %, and patients – by 3 percent. – notes the expert.
According to Dr. Gałązka-Sobotka, the fact that the number of procedures increased faster than the number of patients raises questions about system efficiency. The expert emphasizes that despite the significant increase in public expenditure, the system's efficiency did not improve when it comes to the availability of health services.
