Former Warsaw hospital surgery chief returns to prosecutors with lawyer, after TV interview alleged fatal ER errors

The whistleblower's allegations

Emil Jędrzejewski, a surgeon and former head of the surgical department at the Southern Hospital in Warsaw, sparked a major public controversy with an interview on the Kanał Zero channel last Tuesday evening. He claimed that in the hospital's emergency department, which was coordinated by Dawid Kacprzyk, medical procedures were performed defectively. According to Jędrzejewski, errors led to complications and, in some cases, patient deaths. He also alleged that documentation was falsified and that politicians from the ruling Civic Coalition were given priority access in a so-called 'salonik'.

People die there because someone is learning. And that is the crux of the whole mess.

Kacprzyk, a city councillor formerly associated with the Civic Coalition, rejected the accusations and announced legal steps. He had previously lost his hospital job after his high earnings as a doctor without a specialization were publicized.

First hearing: silence and a note

The surgeon was summoned to the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office the following Wednesday. Facing several dozen questions, he declined to answer, stating that he did not want to testify without a lawyer. He submitted only a note containing the names and national identification numbers (PESEL) of two people he described as victims. One of them was a patient who died in the emergency department toilet; the other had not previously appeared in any case file.

Prosecutor Piotr Antoni Skiba, the office's spokesperson, said the witness "dismissed several dozen questions with silence". Investigators also wanted to secure a phone that supposedly contained a message about hospital negligence, but Jędrzejewski explained that the device he brought was not the one from which the report had been sent.

Second hearing with attorney

On Monday morning, shortly before 9 a.m., Jędrzejewski returned to the prosecutor's office. This time he was accompanied by attorney Tomasz Jendrasiak. The legal counsel emphasised the doctor's status.

The doctor is summoned as a witness. He is not a party to the proceedings.

Jendrasiak added that any statements after the session would depend on the prosecutor leading the case. Journalists waiting outside received no comment from the doctor.

Political intervention

Prime Minister Donald Tusk weighed in publicly after the first hearing, questioning Jędrzejewski's reliability.

The credibility of Mr. Emil Jędrzejewski and his sensational statements after an attempt to question him by the prosecutor's office seems doubtful.

Tusk added that those responsible for defamation would not escape accountability.

Investigations underway

The prosecutor's office is conducting two investigations related to the Southern Hospital. One concerns fraud exceeding 500,000 zlotys. The other involves abuse of authority by a public official, including alleged violations of triage rules in the classification of emergency department patients. Both investigations continue independently of the witness's testimony.