Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda said her ministry wanted to close the huge pay gaps between medical staff – known in Poland as "pay chimneys", referring to a small number of personnel earning vastly more than colleagues in similar roles.
She added that new legislation, backed by the Senate on Thursday, requiring hospitals to report doctors' pay using their national ID or professional licence numbers would help establish how much medical staff actually earn.
The ministry was also looking at capping the number of hours medical personnel can work.
Current rules differ depending on contract type: those on standard employment arrangements face hour limits, while self-employed staff on so-called B2B terms do not.
"We are considering setting an upper limit on hours worked," she said, adding that talks with doctors' professional bodies on the issue are due to take place on 9 July.
Scandal at Warsaw hospital
The announcement comes amid growing scrutiny of Warsaw's Szpital Południowy (Southern Hospital), where a doctor formerly in charge of the emergency department is alleged to have earned around PLN 1.6 million (roughly EUR 370,000) last year while still in training.
The physician, Dawid Kacprzyk, was also a local councillor for the ruling Civic Coalition (KO) party in Warsaw's Ursus district.
Reports also alleged that KO politicians were given preferential treatment at the hospital's emergency department, including being seen without queuing.
Kacprzyk has since resigned from the party and given up his council seat.
Warsaw's mayor has dismissed the hospital's management and supervisory board.
Prosecutors have opened two investigations into the hospital – one over suspected fraud, the other over alleged abuse of power by a public official, including breaches of patient triage rules.
The National Health Fund (NFZ) said it had launched 450 further inspections and reviews across Polish hospitals, on top of the roughly 1,000 carried out so far this year.
Warsaw's city council has also voted to start its own inquiry into the hospital's management.
Health officials said the death rate at the facility's emergency department was in line with the national average for such units.
(ał)
Source: PAP