Basic Information about Medical Chambers in Poland
Polish Constitution allows to set up self-governing autonomous bodies for the professions in which public confidence is reposed. Medical self-governing body was established as early as in 1989 to look after the professional interests of its members and to ensure the patients are given professional medical care of the highest quality. Medical self-govenrment makes sure the doctors in Poland are competent in their field and abide by high ethical standards.
Medical self-government, organised into the Supreme Medical Chamber and regional medical chambers, is obliged to protect this public interest. The chambers make thus sure that high standards of medical care are kept and supervise the quality of it. One of the bodies of each chamber is a regional medical court which is entitled to punish a doctor in case of his/her breaching the principles of good medical practice and/or breaching the Code of Ethics. The highest sanction is to deprive a doctor of his/her right to work as a doctor.
The membership in the chamber is obligatory for each doctor/dentist performing his/her profession; in order to treat patients doctors and dentists must be registered with a licence to practise with the regional medical chamber. Each medical chamber in Poland is keeping upto-date registers of qualified doctors and dentists registered with the regional medical chamber.
The highest authority of the self-government is the General Medical Assembly which adopts the Code of Medical Ethics. The Code contains high ethical standards all doctors must abide.
The chambers are the voice for senior and junior doctors – in constant contact with ministers, government departments, the National Health Fund, regional administration and medical societies and associations. The chambers cover policies such as public health issues, medical ethics, science and medical education. They voice their opinion on any matter concerning the health policies.
Regional Medical Chamber in Warsaw associates almost 30 000 doctors and dentists. The head of the chamber is elected for a 4-year term by the Regional Medical Assembly. He chairs the Regional Medical Council which is executive power of the chamber. For this term Andrzej Sawoni, a surgeon, has been elected in 2013.
All the necessary contact data are here.
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