Patient queues for urgent medical care in Poland have surged, with nearly 1 million people waiting for priority treatment as of the second quarter of 2026, according to an unpublished report from the National Health Fund obtained by *Rzeczpospolita*.
The number of patients classified as "urgent" across nearly 200 types of services increased by 62,800 compared to the first quarter, totaling 980,000—180,000 more than the same period last year. Wait times for urgent MRI scans reached a median of 33 days, up from 29 days in 2025, with 145,300 patients awaiting the procedure, a 36% year-on-year rise. Similar spikes were reported for urgent CT scans (65,800 patients, up 48%), gastroscopies (42,900, up 26%), and colonoscopies (70,400, up 20%).
Marcin Martyniak, director of the Kielce Regional Hospital and a former deputy health minister, attributed the growing backlogs to mid-year policy changes, including the reintroduction of limits on imaging diagnostics and a shift to annual rather than quarterly reimbursement for providers. The changes, applied retroactively, have disrupted scheduling and capacity, he said .
In Estonia, the government approved measures on Thursday to mitigate doctor shortages in primary care, requiring health centers to provide up to three months of temporary coverage when a family physician leaves a practice. If no permanent replacement is found, the Estonian Health Insurance Fund will intervene. The changes also raise patient caps to 2,000 per doctor—2,400 if additional staff are available—to redistribute workloads more evenly. As of January, 77 practice lists covering 132,000 patients lacked permanent physicians, with nearly 10% of residents relying on temporary care .
