The plenary session of the ‘White Summit’– a debate on health system reform – is to start in Warsaw today.

The debate will be attended by the government and the President representatives, parliamentarians, trade union members, employers, local authorities as well as organisations representing patients.

At previous sessions of the summit the trade unions repeatedly criticised the way of conducting the work of the group and stressed that the debate simply draws attention away from the current problems of the Polish health care. The Polish Trade Union of Doctors (OZZL) even threatened to withdraw from the summit, but later changed its mind.

The ‘White Summit’ started on January 21, as a meeting between the government and the health service employees aiming to solve the crisis in the health care system. Since then, four consultation teams have been in operation. Health Minister Ewa Kopacz recently praised the participants of the summit for their hard and substantial work. (jm)(PAP)