Patient rights · to print

Printable card.

The most important rights, deadlines and numbers on paper — for when a phone is no help. Print it and hand it out without asking for permission.

Translation for information only. Only the Polish texts of the legal acts are legally binding. Legal references keep their Polish form so that you can show them to staff: art. = article, ust. = paragraph, pkt = point, § = section, k.c. = Civil Code, k.k. = Criminal Code, Dz.U. … poz. = Journal of Laws … item.

Pocket card
Two cards on one sheet of A4 — one for you, one for someone close to you. Cut and fold: you get a card printed on both sides, without double-sided printing.
- A4, single-sided printing
- 10.5 × 14.8 cm when folded
- for your handbag and your medical records folder
Download PDFPDF · 48 kB Open and printin a new tab
Large print
The same on two A4 pages, in 14 pt text. For an older person, for the fridge or for the notice board at a clinic.
- 2 A4 pages
- 14 pt text
- for a notice board
Download PDFPDF · 40 kB Open and printin a new tab

Both versions are black and white — your printer will not use any colour ink.

Pocket card

How to make a card from a sheet of A4

No double-sided printing, no A6 paper and no hunting for printer settings. All you need is a pair of scissors.

Step 1
Print on an ordinary sheet of A4, single-sided, at 100% scale.
Step 2
Cut the sheet in half along the dashed line.
Step 3
Fold each half along the dots — with the text on the outside.

Has the card come out too small or off-centre? In the print dialogue, choose 100% scale (sometimes called “Actual size”) instead of “Fit to page”.

Preview

What is on the card

Only what can fairly be put in a single sentence, with the article of the act next to every point.

We deliberately left out the limitation period for court claims (a bare “3 years”, without explaining when it starts, would sound like a trap) and the helpline numbers for callers from abroad, which the Patient Ombudsman (RPP) and the NFZ give inconsistently. Both topics are on the full page.

As of October 2026. Amounts and fees change — before an important matter, check the full version of the page.

Full version: patient rights

Pocket card · As of October 2026

Patient rights in Poland

Not sure where to start? Call

+48 800 190 590

Patient Information Line (Telefoniczna Informacja Pacjenta) — free of charge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

112 Life in danger? Call 112.

You have the right to

Information about your health, treatment and prognosis — in a form you understand.art. 9
Consent or refusal after being informed. Surgery — consent in writing.art. 16–18
A second opinion or a panel of doctors. A refusal must go into your records.art. 6 ust. 3–5
Pain relief: assessment, treatment and checking whether it works.art. 20a
Someone close to you being present. A refusal only because of an epidemic or for safety.art. 21
Dignity and privacy. Students at an examination — only with your consent.art. 20, 22
Immediate help when your life is in danger — without queuing.art. 7
Confidentiality about your health — you decide who may know.art. 13–14

Full version and sources: zarobkilekarzy.pl/en/patient-rights

This is free — though hardly anyone tells you

The first copy of your records in the requested scope.art. 28 ust. 2a
A parent or carer staying with a child or with a person with a severe degree of disability.art. 35 ust. 4
An application to the Patient Ombudsman.art. 50 ust. 2

Watch the deadlines

30 daysto object to a doctor’s ruling — through the RPP, citing the provision. There is no appeal.
1 yearto apply for a benefit for harm in hospital (at the latest 3 years from the event). Fee PLN 361.
20 yearshow long the facility keeps your records (30 years if death resulted from bodily injury or poisoning).

Warning. Accepting a benefit from the Fund means giving up your claims in court. It is a route instead of court, not alongside it.

Where to report

Your patient rights were violatedPatient Ombudsman (RPP) · +48 800 190 590 · kancelaria@rpp.gov.pl
Told to pay for treatment funded by the NFZNFZ branch · skargi-i-wnioski.nfz.gov.pl
You see a visit that never happenedIKP · pacjent.gov.pl › “Historia leczenia” › “Zgłoś nieprawidłowość”

Legal basis: Act on Patient Rights (Dz.U. 2024 poz. 581). This is not legal advice. A translation for information only — only the Polish legal texts are binding.