A polyclinic, as a form of private practice, is established in accordance with the Law on Healthcare (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 25/2019, 92/2023 – authentic interpretation, and 29/2025 – Constitutional Court decision – hereinafter: the Law on Healthcare) for at least two different fields of medicine or dental medicine. In addition to the provisions of the Law on Healthcare, the conditions for establishing all other forms of private practice are regulated by the Rulebook on Detailed Conditions for Performing Healthcare Activities in Healthcare Institutions and Other Forms of Healthcare Service (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 43/2006, 112/2009, 50/2010, 79/2011, 10/2012 – other rulebook, 119/2012 – other rulebook, 22/2013, 16/2018, 18/2022, 20/2023, 87/2024, 21/2025, 29/2025, 75/2025 and 86/2025).
Who can establish a polyclinic?
The provisions of the Law on Healthcare prescribe the general conditions that a founder of any form of private practice, including a polyclinic, must meet.
Private practice may be established by:
- an unemployed healthcare professional;
- a healthcare professional who is a recipient of an old-age pension.
A healthcare professional may establish a private practice provided that:
- they are generally medically fit;
- they have acquired an appropriate level of higher or secondary healthcare education, as well as specialisation or subspecialisation;
- they have passed a professional exam;
- they have obtained or renewed a licence in accordance with the law;
- they have not been convicted by a final court decision for an intentional criminal offence and sentenced to one year of imprisonment or a more severe penalty, nor for a criminal offence against human health as long as the conviction has not been expunged in accordance with the law; that no security measure has been imposed on them by a final court decision in accordance with the Criminal Code, namely: compulsory psychiatric treatment and confinement in a medical institution, compulsory psychiatric treatment at liberty, mandatory treatment for drug addiction, compulsory treatment for alcoholism, or a prohibition on performing a profession, activity, or duty which would prevent them from engaging in healthcare work i.e. that they have not been subjected to any disciplinary measure imposed by the competent chamber authority prohibiting them from practising healthcare, in accordance with the law governing the work of chambers of healthcare professionals, for the duration of the imposed security measure or prohibition.
- they meet other conditions prescribed by law.
The founder of a private practice independently performs the activity as a sole trader.
A healthcare professional may establish only one private practice as prescribed by the Law on Healthcare.
Private practice may not carry out healthcare activities in the fields of emergency medical care, blood and blood component preparation, the collection, storage, and transplantation of organs, cells, and tissues as parts of the human body, the production of serums and vaccines, pathological-autopsy and forensic medical services, nor healthcare activities in the field of public health.
Conditions for commencing healthcare activity in a polyclinic
Private practice may perform healthcare activities if it meets the conditions prescribed by the Law on Healthcare and the bylaws adopted for its implementation. A private practice that uses sources of ionising radiation, in addition to the conditions under the Law on Healthcare and related bylaws, must also comply with other legal provisions regulating protection from ionising radiation.
According to the provisions of the Law on Healthcare, a polyclinic, in addition to the founder operating as a sole trader, must employ healthcare professionals with appropriate qualifications, licensed by the relevant chamber, under permanent employment contracts, for each field of medicine or dental medicine represented within the polyclinic.
Detailed requirements regarding personnel, equipment, premises, medicines, and medical devices for establishing and performing healthcare activities, as well as the type and manner of providing healthcare services by private practice, are prescribed by the Rulebook on Detailed Conditions for Performing Healthcare Activities in Healthcare Institutions and Other Forms of Healthcare Service (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 43/2006, 112/2009, 50/2010, 79/2011, 10/2012 – other rulebook, 119/2012 – other rulebook, 22/2013, 16/2018, 18/2022, 20/2023, 87/2024, 21/2025, 29/2025, 75/2025 and 86/2025).
According to provisions of the Rulebook on Detailed Conditions for Performing Healthcare Activities in Healthcare Institutions and Other Forms of Healthcare Service (“Official Gazette of RS”, nos. 43/2006, 112/2009, 50/2010, 79/2011, 10/2012 – other rulebook, 119/2012 – other rulebook, 22/2013, 16/2018, 18/2022, 20/2023, 87/2024, 21/2025, 29/2025, 75/2025 and 86/2025) a polyclinic must meet the following conditions to perform healthcare activities:
– Regarding personnel
A private practice may be established and conduct healthcare activities if the polyclinic has three doctors of medicine i.e dentistry from different specialities and two nurses/technicians with either higher or secondary school qualifications.
– Regarding premises
Healthcare activities in a healthcare institution or private practice may be conducted in a building that meets the following general conditions:
- constructed from materials that do not harm human health and ensure sound, thermal, and moisture insulation;
- connected to electrical and telephone networks;
- equipped with water supply, sewage, and heating;
- separate rooms for storing clean and dirty laundry;
- cold and hot running water in workspaces, patient rooms, and sanitary facilities;
- a sanitary block with an anteroom near the waiting area, and in hospitals, one sanitary block and a shower with a tub per 10 beds;
- natural and artificial lighting, specifically: 250–500 lux in consulting rooms and labs, 100 lux in waiting areas, 50 lux in corridors; except for nuclear medicine, where artificial lighting suffices;
- room temperature between 18°C and 25°C in all premises depending on the purpose;
- floors and walls made from materials that are easy to maintain and disinfect;
- each construction-technical and functional unit within the healthcare institution has sanitary facilities for men and women (separate for patients and staff), as well as dedicated premises for storing equipment and supplies for general hygiene maintenance, and for the clothing of staff;
- the premises in which a healthcare institution or private practice carries out its activities — namely: a specialist radiology clinic, a specialist clinic for hyperbaric or hypobaric medicine, a laboratory for microbiological and virological diagnostics, a specialist clinic for nuclear medicine, and a polyclinic providing services in any of the aforementioned fields — must have a separate entrance from that of residential or commercial premises.
- operating rooms, delivery rooms, dialysis units, and intensive care must be air-conditioned;
- the premises in which a healthcare institution or private practice carries out healthcare activities in the field of nuclear medicine must be provided within a separate building or a designated part of a building, in accordance with the equipment specifications, and must meet all requirements prescribed by the law governing the use of and protection from ionising radiation.
Room size requirements for healthcare activities in a polyclinic, depending on the purpose, are:
- consulting room: 10 m²;
- procedure and endoscopy rooms: 16 m² each;
- X-ray examination room: as per legal construction and technical norms for ionising radiation;
- operating room: 20 m²;
- childbirth room: 20 m².
Depending on the type of healthcare activity, a polyclinic must also have the following specific rooms:
- in radiology: rooms for film development and patient preparation;
- in operating/childbirth rooms: preparation/washing and sterilisation areas;
- in nuclear medicine: rooms for appropriate levels of care and those fulfilling all legal conditions for ionising radiation use and protection.
– Regarding equipment
The equipment prescribed for a polyclinic is the same as the equipment required for the relevant specialities in a health centre, general hospital, or other healthcare institution.
– Regarding medicines
A healthcare institution or private practice may perform healthcare activities if it ensures the availability of appropriate medicines as prescribed by the regulation governing the List of Medicines covered by mandatory health insurance, and other means for prevention, diagnosis, therapy, and rehabilitation, including medicines and other supplies for emergency medical aid and anti-shock therapy.
A polyclinic may perform healthcare activities only if the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, by decision, determines that the prescribed conditions for carrying out healthcare activities are fulfilled.
The polyclinic may perform only those healthcare activities specified in the decision issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia confirming compliance with prescribed conditions.
Exceptionally, a polyclinic may engage a healthcare professional of a different specialisation from another healthcare institution or private practice, if it is necessary – through direct cooperation and consultation with the healthcare professional from that private practice – to ensure that a particular patient receives high-quality and safe healthcare within the scope of services for which the private practice was established. This may be done by concluding a business-technical cooperation agreement with another healthcare institution or private practice, in accordance with the law governing employment and the law regulating the work of employees in public services, or by concluding a supplementary work contract with the healthcare professional, as well as in other ways prescribed by the law governing employment and the law regulating the work of employees in public services.
An additional exception is the possibility for a polyclinic to engage a healthcare professional licensed to perform methods and procedures of complementary medicine for the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients, within the scope of healthcare services for which the private practice was established. This may be done by concluding a business-technical cooperation agreement with another healthcare institution or private practice, in accordance with the law governing employment and the law regulating the work of employees in public services, or by concluding a supplementary work contract with the healthcare professional, as well as in other ways prescribed by the law governing employment and the law regulating the work of employees in public services.
It is prohibited for a healthcare professional of a different specialisation to perform healthcare activities outside the scope of services defined by the decision of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia confirming that the private practice meets the prescribed requirements for carrying out those activities, except in the previously mentioned cases where there is provision for engaging a healthcare professional of another specialisation from another healthcare institution or private practice, as well as a healthcare professional licensed to perform methods and procedures of complementary medicine.
Based on the decision confirming compliance with the prescribed conditions for healthcare activities, the polyclinic shall be entered into the register of the Serbian Business Registers Agency in accordance with the law.
The healthcare activity specified in the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia decision is recorded in the register of the Serbian Business Registers Agency.
A polyclinic commences operations on the day it is entered into the register of the Serbian Business Registers Agency.
Read more:
Types, Requirements for Setting up and Termination of Work of Private Practice »
Conditions for the establishment and termination of private healthcare institution »
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