16,000 People Wait in Line. 300 Zloty for Each Day of Care.

More than 16,000 people in Poland are waiting for a place in long-term care facilities, according to the Ministry of Health. The waiting list for nursing and care facilities (ZOL) stands at 16,500 individuals, while 3,700 people are waiting for placement in specialized care facilities (ZPO). These numbers represent an increase from 2023, when over 11,000 people were on ZOL waiting lists and over 3,000 for ZPO. Dominika Janiszewska-Kajka, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's Analysis and Strategy Department, stated that 2,500 urgent cases are waiting for ZOL, alongside 14,000 stable cases. For ZPO, 780 cases are urgent, with 3,735 total awaiting placement. The daily cost for care, funded by the National Health Fund (NFZ), is approximately 300 Polish złoty per person. Patients residing in these facilities are responsible for the cost of their meals, with monthly fees capped at 70% of their income or 250% of the lowest pension. In 2024, NFZ-funded services were provided to 47,500 patients by 453 providers, totaling over 2.5 billion złoty. Funding for long-term care is projected to nearly double from 2.2 billion złoty in 2020 to close to 5 billion złoty in 2026.

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From our data, there are currently 3,735 people waiting for a place in ZPO, including 780 urgent cases. For ZOL, we have 2,500 people waiting in urgent cases and 14,000 in stable cases.