Improving the quality of long-term care in Poland

Poland has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in Europe, which places increasing pressure on its LTC system. Currently, LTC services are fragmented across the health and social sectors, with benefits and services targeting different population groups (older people, people with disabilities, people incapable of living independently) and varying eligibility criteria. Due to the division across sectors, Poland lacks a unified quality framework for LTC, and there are no comprehensive quality indicators in place. Poland is currently implementing a set of reforms to its LTC system as part of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP), with this project contributing to those efforts by focusing on improving the quality of LTC services.

The project will support Poland in developing a framework for monitoring the quality of LTC. It will begin with a status quo analysis to assess the current LTC quality checks and stakeholders’ understanding of quality monitoring frameworks. The project will also include two study visits to EU Member States, provide recommendations on evidence-based practices for quality of LTC, and implement a capacity-building programme to increase the Polish authorities’ ability to monitor and assess the quality of LTC and interpret the data collected. The support will be based on information gathered through exchanges and questionnaires with relevant stakeholders across various governance levels in Poland, the collection and analysis of both Polish and international data, and the identification of good practices from the EU and OECD member states.

The technical support is expected to assist the Polish authorities in designing and implementing an integrated framework for monitoring the quality of LTC, while increasing the capacity of authorities to interpret the collected data and accurately assess the quality of LTC services.