Launched in 2018, the pilot was intended to replace institutional psychiatry with community-based care through local Mental Health Centers (CZP). Despite its original three-year timeframe, the program is still ongoing and has cost PLN 8 billion (EUR 1.9 billion) to date, including 2 billion in 2024 alone.
According to the report, CZPs serve about 500,000 patients, while traditional public mental health services outside the pilot area treat 1.38 million adults. Yet spending on CZP patients is 92% higher—averaging PLN 3,527 (EUR 837) per person compared to PLN 1,835 (EUR 435) in non-pilot facilities.
“There is a lack of real tools to evaluate the pilot,” the newspaper noted, citing the absence of data such as wait times compared to standard psychiatric clinics. Critics warn that the lack of quality metrics and health outcome tracking creates conditions for abuse.
Currently, 117 centers operate across half of the country. While the concept of localized care is widely supported, some psychiatrists argue that the pilot has turned into a long-term business opportunity for a few providers.
“If I weren’t an academic and worked in the provinces, I’d open a center myself—it’s a lifelong business, one that benefits the whole family for generations,” one anonymous psychiatrist told Rzeczpospolita.
(jh)
Source: Rzeczpospolita, PAP, IAR