In the first half of 2026 almost 12 1000 references to sanatoriums were not made, and the value of these benefits exceeded PLN 75.5 million. That's 5.49% of contracted turnouts. The NFZ and the wellness department consider the work to confirm arrival and an yearly punishment for those who do not appear without announcement to receive treatment.
PLN 75,5 million in unused benefits
The problem of empty places in sanatoriums already has a dimension of tens of millions of PLN. According to the data of the National wellness Fund submitted to the WP Finance, in the first half of 2026 almost 12,000 references to spa treatment were not implemented. They accounted for 5.49% of the benefits contracted for this period, and their value exceeded PLN 75.5 million.
You gotta usage precise concepts. Not all this amount is simply a final failure to the accountant. any benefits may be settled or performed at another time. However, this is simply a real value of treatment that did not take place as planned, while another patients were waiting for their turn.
The magnitude of the phenomenon is increasing. Throughout 2025, the value of unrealised benefits amounted to PLN 52 570 998 and in 2024 PLN 55 725 039. Meanwhile, only for the first six months of 2026 the amount was already higher than in any of the erstwhile 2 full years. No show data published by WP Finance based on NFZ response.
Empty bed means lost patient chance
The spa treatment was utilized by 431 597 people in 2024 and 441 865 in 2025. In the first half of 2026, NFZ reported 209,093 patients. Any place prepared for a individual who does not come and does not inform the facility could service individual waiting for treatment.
This is peculiarly annoying in a strategy where patients keep watch over deadlines and frequently wait long to witness. fresh case 59 people who according to the NFZ missed the queue in Piaseczno, showed how much emotion causes unequal treatment. An empty place in a sanatorium is simply a different situation, but it leads to a akin effect: publically funded treatment does not scope the individual who could benefit from it.
The Polish Group of Uzdrowisk stated that in 4 of its entities in the first half of 2026 there were 1174 no-shows or unfulfilled referrals. Their value was estimated at respective million zlotys. In 1 of the companies, the share of no-shows during the first turn of the year reached about 20%, which forced changes in the organisation of work and usage of the base.
Why Treatees Give Up
There are serious reasons: illness, the request to care for a loved one, financial problems, or the deficiency of a convenient connection. However, the wellness hotel besides indicated purely organisational and individual reasons, including the desire to leave only in the summer, the preference of spas by the sea, the effort to match the word with the spouse or the previously planned abroad trip.
The State should separate between random events and disregard for the common system. If you study your resignation early adequate for an crucial reason, you cannot be treated as a individual who simply has not arrived and has not provided any information. Equal principles require reason, but besides consequences.
The curates should besides know the cost of their stay and the rules of payment. As of 1 October, the sanatorium fees changed to NFZFor any patients, this may be applicable erstwhile planning to leave. Clear information sent early adequate reduces the hazard of resignation at the last minute.
Arrival confirmation and yearly withdrawal
The Ministry of Health, the NFZ and the parliamentary squad analyse changes in regulations. 1 proposal assumes that the spa would remind you of the turnus 30 days before it began, and the patient would gotta confirm arrival no later than 21 days before the deadline. A vacant seat could then be handed over to another individual on the list.
The work to supply the current telephone number and email address is besides being considered. Patients could declare their readiness to leave rapidly erstwhile a seat is unexpectedly released. The most far-reaching proposal provides for a 12-month punishment for a individual who does not appear on the turnus and does not inform the NFZ. A fresh referral could only be submitted after a year, calculated after the end of the unused turnus.
That's a proposition for now. The NFZ has not yet issued an authoritative opinion and the date of possible entry into force of the changes remains unknown. The strategy should hold exceptions for documented medical and random events. Without this, punishment could hit people who truly had no influence on their situation.
Public money requires responsibility
The community funds spa treatment from Polish contributions. The patient receiving the referral gets access to a limited benefit that others are waiting for. So he has the right to resign, but he besides has the work to do so in due time.
Mandatory arrival confirmation, efficient reserve list and consequences for unjustified deficiency of standing is simply a reasonable direction. At the same time, the State must besides supply simple telephone contact to older people who do not usage the net freely. Order cannot mean digital exclusion.
Over PLN 75,5 million of unrealised benefits in six months shows the price of organizational helplessness. For Poles, this means empty beds, longer queues and waste of resources that should service treatment. Here a simple regulation is needed: who cannot come, informs; who disregards the deadline without reason, bears the consequences.
Source: WP Finance
