Psychological care becomes a standard at cancer wards

This results from the Regulation of the Minister of Health of 22 November 2013 concerning the guaranteed services in the field of hospital treatment. According to this Regulation, providing patients with the possibility of contacting a psychologist is required among medical and nursing staff in the field of oncology and paediatric oncology and hematology.

As explained by Sylwia Wądrzyk-Bularz from the Public Relations Office of the National Health Fund's headquarters, the working time and scope of tasks at a given position will be determined by the authorities of the hospital that employs staff (including a psychologist).

Patients accept psychological help

"Doctors are aware that psychological help is needed in the treatment process. However, there might be a problem with the availability of psychologists. Devoting an appropriate amount of time to every patient may be problematic for large facilities which specialise in oncology and treat hundreds of patients, but have limited staff," Jadwiga Tyrpa, a clinical psychologist from the Katowice University Centre for Ophthalmology and Oncology, points out in an interview with e-zdrowie.

She adds that when patients are offered psychological help, they generally accept it. However, some patients react anxiously when a psychologist appears. "Is it really that bad?" they ask themselves. It also happens that patients absolutely refuse to see a psychologist.

"It often turns out that when a patient gets accustomed to a psychologist, he or she decides to get help. However, if they show me a red card," Jadwiga Tyrpa says, "I respect their decision."

Not only conversation

Jadwiga Tyrpa emphasises that she never forces patients to talk about any subject. "I'm half a step behind the patient," she says. "It is he or she who points out the areas in which help is needed," she explains.

Apart from conversation, psychologists offer the people who suffer from cancer different methods of coping with chronic stress such as music therapy, breathing exercises and relaxation techniques (including visualization) that make use of the significant role of imagination in the treatment process.

Jadwiga Tyrpa tries to teach patients to use these techniques by themselves when they are at home. Among other things, she also encourages them to draw on the information publications and guides that describe their situation, possible side effects during the treatment and the ways to relieve suffering.

"Making use of the experience of people who suffer from the same disease and who are organised in associations is very helpful, as such contacts provide support" Jadwiga Tyrpa says. "In contrast, patients should be very careful while trying to obtain knowledge from online forums."

NFZ pays no additional amounts for the employment of psychologists at clinics

As explained by the National Health Fund, the provision of psychological services that constitute a part of the entire diagnostic and therapeutic procedure at a hospital is not separately funded.

The situation is different with drug or chemotherapy programs conducted on an outpatient basis. As the NFZ informs, it does not additionally pay for the employment of a psychologist for the patients who take medication on an outpatient basis.

The provision of the services of a clinical psychologist is additionally evaluated in a tender. However, not providing a clinical psychologist is not a criterion for being prevented from concluding a contract with the NFZ.