Mirosław Kochanowski, chairman of the Solidarity Workplace Commission, learned several days ago that the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship plans to close two wards at the Provincial Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill in Bolesławiec. At the beginning of last week, the plan to modernize psychiatric care in the voivodeship was published on the website of the Lower Silesian regional assembly.

For the Bolesławiec facility, this could mean losing approximately PLN 3 million annually. What is more, as many as 50 people could lose their jobs. “In our view, this is a restructuring plan for the hospital in Lubiąż,” says Kochanowski. He adds that only the Lubiąż facility would benefit if the plan were approved.

The trade unions operating at the psychiatric hospital sent Jarosław Maroszek of the UMWD health policy department a protest letter accusing the authors of the psychiatric care modernization plan of bias. The signatories also appeal to the provincial authorities to reject the project in its entirety. They recall that several months ago officials declared they would support the development of the Bolesławiec hospital; at the time, they spoke of increasing the number of beds in long-term care and treatment wards. A quotation from the letter: “We ask—why such a change?”

If the worst-case scenario comes true, two long-term care and treatment wards will be closed. “They house mentally ill people who have no homes, and whose families are unable to care for them,” says Mirosław Kochanowski. Some of the patients have been receiving treatment for more than 30 years. The hospital is their home. Most of them will not find their way in a new reality.

What in return?

“We are being offered the creation of a social welfare home,” says Mirosław Kochanowski. The problem is that the hospital had already intended to establish such a facility in 2006. At the time, it proved impossible. “The law has not changed,” Kochanowski says ironically. Moreover, it is not known who would co-finance the center's operations. The chairman himself calls the proposal “vague.”

A hospital like home

In 2004, Kochanowski witnessed the closure of two long-term care and treatment wards. “I know what a tragedy it is for patients,” the chairman points out. “I saw a female patient who did not want to leave. She spent the night at the reception desk.” “The patients are terrified,” says Ewa Putorak, acting head nurse of Ward VI of the long-term care and treatment facility. The staff tried to hide information about the provincial authorities' plans from their patients. Without success. The patients learned from one of the visitors. “They come to us and ask whether it is true that they are going to throw us out,” says the nurse.

Ewa Putorak briefly comments on the Marshal's Office's intentions: “All of this is very strange to us. There were no such plans before.” This is all the more concerning because, as the head nurse emphasizes, the waiting list for a place in the hospital is very long. The same view is held by Wioleta Torończak, chairwoman of the Nurses and Midwives Trade Union. “This is simply scandalous,” the chairwoman says angrily. “A new authority came in and is making changes. The Marshal's Office is pursuing its own policy and is not looking after the patients' welfare,” she adds.

What next?

“We are determined. We will defend the patients' beds and our jobs,” Mirosław Kochanowski announces. “We do not rule out a strike, although we know that this is a last resort,” he adds.

The decision has not been made

“The report prepared by a team led by Dr. Szełemej is a starting document and proposes directions for changes in psychiatric care in Lower Silesia. The program will be subject to consultations, including with regional assembly members and trade unions operating in health care,” wrote Beata Pelc from the UMWD press office in an email to our editorial team. According to officials from the health policy department, the psychiatric care modernization plan was “prepared reliably and objectively.” At the same time, the provincial authorities assure the union members that “all proposals and comments are being thoroughly analyzed, and the rational ones will be included in the final Plan.”

Update 2008-06-27 18:50

As reported by the UMWD press office, at the regional assembly session held on June 26, councilors unanimously supported the provincial board's proposal concerning inpatient health care.

(GA information)