Andrzej Duda signed the bill into law at the presidential palace in Warsaw on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Under the new regulations, originally proposed by the president, elder care will be provided by a new network of “health centres for people aged 75-plus,” with one such facility per each of Poland’s more than 300 counties, according to officials.
In addition, seniors will receive specialised care at hospital geriatric wards and primary healthcare clinics, the PAP news agency reported.
The new law sets standards of quality in elder care, such as the required number of beds at hospital wards and the minimum and maximum numbers of in-patients at health centres for the 75-plus age group.
The president said that the new arrangement would represent “a qualitative leap” in Poland’s elder care.
He told reporters that health centres for seniors would offer specialised care, rehabilitation and counselling.
Duda added that “systemic measures must be introduced” in elder care because Poland’s 75-plus age bracket is set to rise from 2.7 million, or 7 percent of the population, in 2023 to 16.5 percent in 2050.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, prezydent.pl