In Poland, public participation in decisions concerning healthcare system is very limited: public consultations are often of only formal nature and opinions from patient organisations are usually ignored.
The project "Patients decide!" aimed at strengthening patients as a party to social dialogue and enhancing their voice in crucial decision-making processes.
As a result of the project, a group of competent patient organisations was created that can become a partner for public administration in the dialogue on public health. In April 2015, the group successfully conducted public consultations of the act on public health. Conclusions were forwarded to the Ministry of Health, and one of the proposals, namely to include in the Council for Public Health a representative of patient organisations, was introduced in the draft act.
Under the project, a social campaign was conducted to encourage citizen to participate in public consultations on healthcare, educational materials were prepared for patients (on participation and on the system of healthcare in Poland) and a report summarising questionnaire survey covering 2192 patients was written. A series of 19 trainings was organised on public consultations and main aspects of healthcare system operation for approx. 200 persons from 55 patient organisations in Poland.
The project was open for all patients in Poland, and all training materials are available on the web page www.pacjencidecyduja.pl.
The Norwegian partner contributed their knowledge on the rights of patients and the availability of information on effectiveness, quality and safety of treatment procedures in Norway that became an inspiration for creating a vision of a desired system in Poland. Remaining partners are 2 patient organisations and experts in the field of medicine use (they supported the foundation with their expertise on medicine use, data transparency, as well as with their experience in influencing legislative processes), and a company specialising in social campaigns.