How to Get a Health Card in 2026

A new cook starts on Monday, and you have just remembered that they have no certificate. How do you get a sanitary-epidemiological health card ("książeczka sanepidowska") so that this does not happen a second time? Start with the referral, because everything else depends on it: where you go, what you pay and when the employee can work with food. Below is the whole path in five steps, with specific examples of sanitary stations and a note on what can be arranged online and what cannot.

In brief

• The path has two stages. First the laboratory (3 stool samples), then the doctor, who issues the certificate on the basis of the result.

• The referral is issued by the employer or the party commissioning the work (Art. 6(2)(3)). A candidate without a job can come on their own, on their own application (Art. 6(2a)).

• Online you can arrange the payment, the invoice and often the collection of the result. The samples must be physically delivered to the reception point.

• Sample reception days are sometimes limited to two or three days a week. Check them before the employee starts collecting material.

• The certificate must be in place before the first shift with food. The original goes into the personnel file, a copy stays at the venue (Art. 59(4) and (5) of the Act on Food and Nutrition Safety).

How to get a health card: five steps

Formally you no longer get a card, but a medical certificate for sanitary-epidemiological purposes. Where this change comes from and what follows from it we explain in the article on sanitary-epidemiological examinations in foodservice. Here what counts is the order of actions:

1. Referral. The employer or the party commissioning the work refers the person for the examination and enters the type of activities performed. Without a referral some stations will not accept samples on the company's account.
2. Choosing the place. You need a laboratory that will test the stool, and a primary care doctor or an occupational medicine doctor (Art. 7(1) of the Act of 5 December 2008).
3. Order and payment. The station issues an order form, often also swab kits with a transport medium. You pay by bank transfer or at the cash desk.
4. Collecting and delivering the samples. Three samples from three consecutive days, delivered on the date and day set by the station. We described the details and the mistakes in the article Sanepid examinations: which tests and how to hand in stool samples.
5. The result and the doctor's visit. You go to the doctor with the result. The doctor issues the certificate and gives it to the person examined and to the employer (Art. 7(2)).

Referral for examinations for sanitary-epidemiological purposes

The Act says only who refers: the employer or the party commissioning the work (Art. 6(2)(3)). We found no template of a referral in it. The Ministry of Health, in its reply to a parliamentary question of August 2025, indicated that the referral should include the type of activity performed by the person. So enter in it:

• the company's details: name, tax ID (NIP), stamp
• the person's details: first name, surname, PESEL number (the document number if there is no PESEL)
• the type of work, for example "cook, heat treatment" or "front-of-house service with serving dishes"
• the date, the signature of a person authorised to represent the company

This is our proposal for the content, not an official form. Some stations, however, have their own requirements. The station in Radom requires that the employer's referral has a clear company stamp and the signature of an authorised person, and private individuals submit a separate form. So download the template from the website of the station you will go to, instead of writing your own.

A candidate without a contract: an examination on their own application

A person looking for a job with food may have the examination done without a referral, on their own application. They then indicate what kind of work the certificate is to concern (Art. 6(2a)). They pay for the examination themselves (Art. 8(4a)). If you recruit someone without experience, tell them this at the interview, so that they do not spend money twice.

Health card: where to get it

The question "where" has two answers, because the examination and the certificate are two different places.

The laboratory: a sanitary-epidemiological station

Laboratory tests are performed by the laboratories of the State Sanitary Inspection (Sanepid) or other accredited laboratories that have an agreement with the Inspection (Art. 7(4)). In practice you go to a county or voivodeship station. The spokesperson of the Chief Sanitary Inspector said in 2023 in an interview with Prawo.pl that the test for carriage of Salmonella and Shigella is performed by the bodies of the State Sanitary Inspection.

The days and hours of sample reception are often narrow. A few examples from the stations' official websites, as of 2 November 2026:

Station	Sample reception	Result
Olkusz	Tuesdays 8:00-10:00, date agreed when collecting the containers	no earlier than 7 days after delivery
Bytom	Monday-Thursday 8:00-10:00, not on Fridays	7 days after delivery of the third sample
Radom	Monday-Wednesday 7:45-11:00	collection Monday to Friday, 12:45-14:45
Koszalin	Monday-Thursday 8:00-11:00, from 5 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 only Monday-Wednesday	at the earliest 5 days after delivery
Ełk	Monday-Thursday 7:30-12:00	7 days from processing the order

The conclusion: an employee who starts collecting samples on the wrong day may not make it in time for delivery. Plan the three consecutive collection days so that the last one falls on a reception day.

The doctor: primary care (POZ) or occupational medicine

The certificate is issued by a primary care doctor or a doctor performing the tasks of the occupational medicine service. Check at the registration desk whether the clinic issues sanitary-epidemiological certificates and whether it requires a result from a specific station. We compared the prices of visits and stool tests in the article how much a health card costs in 2026.

How long it takes: waiting time for results

The time consists of three parts that add up: three days of collecting samples, delivery on a reception day and waiting for the result. Stations state on their websites 5 to 7 days from the delivery of the samples. The doctor's visit comes on top. This is an estimate based on the above websites, not a guarantee. So plan with a margin and do not set the first shift with food before you have collected the certificate.

Put this schedule into the plan for the first 7 days of a new employee. People with the certificate in hand start with training, people without the certificate wait, but do not stand at the food.

Health card online: what you can arrange remotely

From the stations' official websites it follows that part of the process can be done online:

• The payment. A bank transfer to the station's account is standard, and some stations accept samples only after the test has been paid for.
• The invoice for a company. The station in Radom issues invoices through KSeF (the National e-Invoicing System), and the company pays after it is issued.
• Collecting the result. In Wałbrzych the electronic result is available for 90 days from the date of issue. The station in Konin, according to its instructions, makes the result available online only.
• A copy of the documentation. You can send a request for a duplicate of the results electronically, for example to the WSSE in Bydgoszcz (Voivodeship Sanitary-Epidemiological Station; a scanned request, a password given by phone).

What you cannot do online: the collected samples still have to be physically delivered to the reception point.

A certificate through a teleconsultation

Commercial platforms offer a certificate after a conversation with a doctor online. The Act does not mention this directly, and in official sources we found no position that such a certificate is sufficient. The spokesperson of the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) warned in 2023 that services offering a certificate without a visit are not connected with the State Sanitary Inspection and that the examination should include an interview and a physical examination. If you are considering this path, ask the doctor what the examination consists of, and check whether the laboratory result comes from a laboratory under Art. 7(4). Before sending an employee, also ask what the record would look like in the event of an inspection. If in doubt, choose an in-person visit.

Collecting the certificate and what you do with the document

The doctor gives the certificate to the person examined and to the employer (Art. 7(2)) and enters its content in the examination record card (Art. 7(3)). After that you have the obligation to:

• keep the certificate in the personnel file and make it available on request to the official food control authorities (Art. 59(4))
• have a copy at the place where the given person performs their work (Art. 59(5))
• enter the date and any date of the next examination in the register we write about in the article how long a health card is valid and what to do after losing it

Gaps in this area are one of the more frequent non-conformities in staff hygiene.

The most common mistakes when getting a certificate

• The wrong collection date. Stations set a reception day and a time limit from collection, for example 48 hours in Bytom and 60 hours for the first sample in Olkusz. A late sample means repeating the test.
• No label on the sample. A container without first name, surname, date and time of collection will not be accepted.
• A referral without a stamp. At stations that require it, this is a reason to come back on the next reception day.
• The first shift before the certificate. The certificate must be in place before work begins, not after.
• An examination from another country. A document from outside the Polish system is not a doctor's certificate under Art. 7(1). You will find the list of papers for hiring foreigners in the article on documents when hiring foreigners in foodservice.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get a health card for the first time?

Take a referral from the employer (or come on your own as a candidate), have a stool test from three consecutive days done at a sanitary station, and go to a primary care (POZ) or occupational medicine doctor with the result. The doctor issues the certificate. Formally the document is called a medical certificate for sanitary-epidemiological purposes.

Do I need a referral for examinations for sanitary-epidemiological purposes?

If you work or are starting work, the employer or the party commissioning the work refers you for the examination (Art. 6(2)(3)). A candidate looking for a job may have the examination done without a referral, on their own application and at their own cost (Art. 6(2a) and Art. 8(4a)). Some stations require a referral with the company stamp, so check this with your station.

Where do I get a health card?

You can have the stool test done at a sanitary-epidemiological station (a laboratory of the State Sanitary Inspection or another accredited laboratory with an agreement with the Inspection, Art. 7(4)). The certificate is issued by a primary care (POZ) doctor or an occupational medicine doctor. Check the days and hours of sample reception on the website of the station you choose.

Can a health card be obtained online?

Partly. Online you can arrange the payment, the invoice, often the collection of the result and a request for a copy. The stool samples must be delivered in person. A certificate issued solely through a teleconsultation raises reservations: the GIS spokesperson warned in 2023 against services without an examination, and we found no official confirmation that this is sufficient.

How long does it take to get a health card?

Three days of collecting samples, delivery on a reception day, about 5 to 7 days of waiting for the result according to the stations' websites, then the doctor's visit. In total this is usually more than a week. The time depends on the station, so ask about it before booking.

---

Legal status as of: 2 November 2026
Legal basis: Act of 5 December 2008 on the Prevention and Control of Infections and Infectious Diseases in Humans (Art. 6, 7, 8; consolidated text: Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2025, item 1675, checked in the ELI version); Act on Food and Nutrition Safety of 25 August 2006 (Art. 59; consolidated text: Journal of Laws 2026, item 1399). Information on hours, prices and procedures comes from the websites of sanitary-epidemiological stations of 2 November 2026 and may change. We did not check in official sources whether a teleconsultation meets the requirement of a medical examination. There is also no nationwide template of a referral that we could point to.
Last review: 2 November 2026