On 24 November 2021, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski nominated Prof. Henryk Skarżyński to the post of the National Consultant in otorhinolaryngology for another, five-year term. Prof. H. Skarżyński is the world-famous otosurgeon and specialist in otorhinolaryngology, audiology, phoniatrics and pediatric otolaryngology. He is a corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) and a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Prof. H. Skarżyński was the first in Poland to implant: Cochlea implant (1992), a bone conduction implant in children (1997), an auditory brainstem implant (1998), and a middle ear implant (2003). He practically implemented almost all hearing-improving implantation systems in Poland. He was also a pioneer of such solutions in Europe and worldwide. His achievements include launching the world’s first programme for deafness treatment and residual hearing preservation in 1997. In 2002, he performed the world’s first operation on an adult patient with classical partial deafness, and in 2004 – the world’s first operation on a child with this type of hearing loss. The surgical “Skarżyński’s method”, for which he developed a new electrode and surgical procedure, has been implemented in several dozen world centres.
From 1994, Prof. H. Skarżyński was the National Specialist in the field of Audiology and then the national Consultant in the field of audiology and phoniatrics. He has been the national Consultant in otorhinolaryngology since 2011, which makes the upcoming term his third one.
The tasks of the national consultants include: pronouncing opinions on applications for referral of a patient to treatment or diagnostic tests abroad; initiating nation-wide epidemiological studies and assessment of the method and results of these studies; forecasting health needs in a given field; advice on the execution of the tasks of the National Health Programme and other health programmes; pronouncing opinions and advice on the tasks performed by the Medical Examinations Centre, the Centre of Postgraduate Education For Nurses and Midwives and the Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education.
It is worth adding that national consultants are appointed by the Minister of Health from among specialists in medicine, pharmacy, and other fields relevant to health care. The Minister may also ask scientific societies that bring together specialists in a given field or relevant governing organisations of medical professions to indicate the candidates.