It's over. Starting today, new regulations regarding disability assessment boards are in effect.

• On Thursday, an amended regulation came into force, expanding the group of doctors allowed to issue disability certificates.
• The chairman of the adjudicating panel may be a doctor undergoing specialization after completing the basic module or the third year of the uniform module, as well as a doctor with at least five years of experience
• A member of the team may be a doctor with the right to practice the profession and at least a first-degree specialization, a doctor undergoing specialization after completing the basic module or the third year of the uniform module, or a doctor with five years of experience
• The changes are intended to improve the work of the committees, which currently consider applications for rulings even after several months of waiting.

On Thursday, an amended regulation on disability assessment and disability level came into force. A larger group of doctors has been authorized to assess disability.

Following the changes, the chairman of the district and voivodeship adjudicating panel may be a doctor undergoing specialist training who has completed the basic module, or a doctor in his third year if he is undergoing training in the uniform module.

The regulation lists the following specializations:

• internal diseases,
• pediatrics,
• orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system,
• neurology,
• psychiatry,
• ophthalmology,
• otolaryngology.

A physician who has practiced the profession for at least five years may also be appointed chairman of the adjudicating panel. This period does not include postgraduate internships, work on the basis of a conditional right to practice the profession, or work in a limited scope.

Until now, the team could only be headed by a physician with the title of specialist or with at least first degree specialization , in particular in internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system, neurology, psychiatry, ophthalmology and otolaryngology.

As of Thursday, the required qualifications for other physicians on adjudicating panels have also changed. A physician will need to hold a license to practice and hold a specialist title or at least a first-degree specialization. A physician currently undergoing specialization training after completing the basic module or during the third year of a uniform training module may also be a member of the adjudicating panel. Specifically, the qualifications cover the following fields: internal medicine, pediatrics, orthopedics and traumatology of the musculoskeletal system, neurology, psychiatry, ophthalmology, and otorhinolaryngology.

Additionally, the team may also include a physician with at least five years of experience. This period does not include postgraduate internships, work under conditional licenses, or limited professional experience.

Until now, a doctor with the right to practice the profession and the title of specialist or at least first-degree specialization in one of the fields applicable in the process of assessing disability or degree of disability could adjudicate in the team.

People applying for a disability certificate or a determination of the degree of disability currently wait up to several months for a hearing before the adjudicating panel.

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