Until now, when we started filling a prescription at one pharmacy, even if we didn’t want to pick up all the medicines or some were missing and we had to wait for delivery, we couldn’t purchase the remaining pharmaceuticals at another facility. Starting July 1, 2026 this will be possible.
Conveniences for patients
The Ministry of Health is implementing the long‑awaited change. Although it was initially set to take effect on June 18, the deadline was ultimately delayed by almost two weeks. Why? The ministry says the delay was due to work on the system. All this was to ensure that as many pharmacies as possible could join the system at the moment the convenience comes into force.
What will actually change? From Wednesday onward, a patient who starts filling an e‑prescription at one pharmacy and does not want to pick up all the medicines immediately—or if some are unavailable—can go to another pharmacy and complete the rest of the prescription there. This is a major convenience for patients who receive prescriptions, for example, after leaving the hospital or while staying in a sanatorium or receiving remote healthcare. When they had to fill a partial prescription in one place, they were forced to complete the entire e‑prescription in a single location. Sometimes this was difficult because the medicines could have been prescribed by the doctor for an entire therapy that might last a year. The amount a patient would have to pay could have been unacceptable, leading to problems. Patients also faced this when using pharmacy‑made medicines, such as ointments. Doctors, to make it easier for patients, often prescribed larger quantities of such medicines on a single prescription. Because these medicines often contain no preservatives, they must be purchased and used promptly, as ointments can simply spoil. With the change in prescription fulfillment regulations, such a patient can now purchase the medicine even while far from home, where they started filling the prescription at a nearby pharmacy.
Not in all pharmacies
Although the new e‑prescription fulfillment rules take effect on July 1, 2026, not all pharmacies will immediately join the system. The Ministry of Health states that the list of all participating pharmacies will be published on July 1 on the pacjent.gov.pl website.
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