Public health system in Poland has same problems as its UK counterpart. It's free, but public hospitals and clinics have notorious problems with service limits, wait times, financing, care level etc. But at the same time qualifications of doctors and other medical staff are quite high so they somehow make up for the shortcomings of the system (however, the long wait problem is unsolvable). I hope medical tourism improves the situation a bit by stimulating growth of non-public specialized clinics.
Don't know about Poland but back in Lithuania solving that by a little bribe was a common way around, judging from what I've heard. Once I had to get off the dentists (private not public) chair because someone came in and gave a 'bribe' of... $8 (20LTL).
That's weird isn't it? I always imagined private dentists to work more like shops: you get your service for a list price. The idea of giving bribes during shopping baffles me.
Russia here, which isn't known as being bribe free.
Maybe it is extra regulated or price-controlled so non-market forces kick in? You needing them more than they needing to retain you as a customer, because supply becomes limited.
Don't think so. I'm not talking about grannies spending a day socializing in the waiting room, but rather about people waiting for months or years for treatment, surgeries or transplants. Currently public healthcare logically assumes that many procedures will become unnecessary if you wait long enough.
