Pharmacies and Hospitals
Simple complaints can normally be dealt with at a regular pharmacy ( apteka ), where basic medicines are dispensed by qualified pharmacists. In the cities, many of the staff will speak at least some English or German. Even in places where the staff speak only Polish, it should be easy enough to obtain repeat prescriptions, if you bring along the empty container or remaining pills. In every town there's always at least one apteka open 24 hours; addresses are printed in local newspapers and guides. For more serious problems, or anything the pharmacist can't work out, you'll be directed to a public hospital ( szpital ), where conditions will probably be cramped, with more patients than beds, a lack of resources and occasionally insanitary conditions. Health service staff are heavily overworked and scandalously underpaid: the funding crisis in the Polish health service is currently the subject of intense political debate. Hospital patients may be required to pay for the better-quality medicines, and will probably need friends to bring food in for them. If you are required to pay for any medical treatment or medication, remember to keep the receipts for your insurance claim when you get home. In the larger cities you can opt for private health care . Krakow and Warsaw now have a considerable Western expatriate population, with health centres run on Western lines. In a crisis, it may even be best to ring the 24-hour emergency service of one of these clinics rather than an ambulance; the ethics of private versus public health care aside, there are advantages to being able to talk to someone in English. See the relevant city listings - or check the local press - for details.
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