At the end of October the Sejm voted in an act concerning primary health care, and at the beginning of November the Senate did likewise. The act gives general practitioners greater responsibility for patient care, and simultaneously transfers to them some of the functions performed up to now by specialists. Primary health care practitioners are to serve as guides for patients throughout the whole health care system, ensuring continuity and a holistic approach to patient needs. Poles are divided in their assessment of this mode of operation. Although almost half of those polled (48%) believe it will be beneficial for patients, only a slightly smaller percentage (42%) are of the opposite opinion, including one in eight (12%) of respondents who are decidedly worried by the changes brought in by the act.