Dynamic growth in private nursing homes for seniors in Poland

DPS account for 43% of all residential long-term care facilities for seniors in Poland, and contain over 60% of all beds. They are mostly large establishments, and size in this case does not always go hand in hand with quality of service. This, as well as a shortage of places relative to need, is stimulating demand for commercial services. As our analysis shows, the number of facilities where residents pay out of pocket (rather than through the NFZ or pension) has been growing dynamically in recent years. These private or commercial institutions offer smaller rooms and numerous amenities and services, e.g. relaxation zones, beauty zones, marital apartments, etc.

So-called 24-hour care facility is the format responsible for most of the growth in private institutions in recent years. A majority of the almost 700 private centres are 24-hour care facilities. It is worth noting, however, that a large part of the people staying in DPS will never become clients of private institutions, due to limited financial means at their disposal.