Regional medical councils have revoked the conditional licenses of 208 foreign physicians as of May 12, with the Mazovia region around Warsaw accounting for the largest share at 107, followed by Warmia-Mazury (26), Podlaskie (19), Lublin (16) and Silesia (15), the daily Rzeczpospolita reported Friday.
The doctors — many from Ukraine — had received conditional licenses to practice in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic and after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They were required to obtain a B1-level Polish language certificate by the end of April. Those who failed to do so are now losing their work authorization.
Łukasz Jankowski, president of the Supreme Medical Council, has said the measure could ultimately affect up to 1,000 foreign doctors.
The revocations are hitting rural hospitals particularly hard. "We permanently lack doctors; we are in deep rural areas and finding a physician borders on a miracle", said Małgorzata Kormosz, acting director of a hospital in Ustrzyki Dolne.
Health Ministry officials sought to limit alarm. "We are receiving initial letters from rural hospitals for which this could be a problem — and indeed, if their staffing is bare-bones, losing any doctor is an issue. But these are isolated cases, not a systemic problem", said Prof. Mariusz Klencki, head of the ministry's medical workforce development department.
(jh)
Source: PAP