Immigration of medical personnel from Ukraine to Poland - Context, regulations, and trends.

Background: The migration of healthcare professionals is common phenomenon and shows upwards trends. Poland, which used to be a source country with marginal immigration, has in the past few years received more immigrants due to the simplified access to the labour market for professionals from outside the European Union. We aimed to analyse the immigration of healthcare workforce to Poland with an emphasis on legislative changes regarding the right to practice of medical personnel from outside the EU (mainly from Ukraine).

Methods: This analysis included the description of legislative changes in the recognition of qualifications of doctors, dentists, nurses, and midwives. Data on the number of non-EU citizens who took up employment in Poland were analysed concerning three periods reflecting these changes: (1) before 2020, (2) during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022), and (3) after the Russian invasion of Ukraine (since February 2022). Also, the medical education systems in Poland and Ukraine were compared.

Results: The number of Ukrainian health workers seeking employment in Poland has increased significantly in recent years, mainly due to the geopolitical context of the war in Ukraine. This has been supported by the simplification of legal regulations for obtaining a licence to practice.

Conclusions: It is necessary to implement a comprehensive adaptation process for migrant health workers to maintain the quality of provided services and patient safety.