Sejm votes to link medical salaries to PESEL after 1.6 mln zł doctor scandal
Poland’s lower house passed a law on Friday that ends anonymous reporting of health-worker pay, attaching each contract to the holder’s national ID number. The vote, with 253 in favour and none against, was hastened by the case of a young doctor who earned 1.6 million złoty in 2025.
The vote
On Friday, the Sejm voted 253–0 with 177 abstentions to adopt a government bill that will give the Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Tarification (AOTMiT) access to personalised salary data for medical staff. The law was fast-tracked after a media exposé in the portal Zero.pl.
The Kacprzyk scandal
The case that accelerated the legislation involves Dawid Kacprzyk, a doctor still undergoing specialist training who simultaneously served as a councillor for the Civic Coalition (KO). In 2025 he earned 1.6 million złoty, mostly from work at the Warsaw Southern Hospital. After the revelation he left the party on Monday (15 June), resigned his district council seat on Thursday and returned 500,000 złoty to the hospital.
- Dawid Kacprzyk leaves the Civic Coalition party.
- Kacprzyk resigns his Ursus district council seat and returns 500,000 złoty to the hospital.
- The Sejm passes the PESEL-linked salary law with 253 votes in favour, none against and 177 abstentions.
What the law changes
Since 2022, AOTMiT has collected anonymised data about health-sector pay but could not trace how much a single person earned across multiple contracts or institutions. Under the new rules, hospitals must report the PESEL national identification number or the professional licence number with each payment record. The Ministry of Health says the change will not impose extra costs because it uses existing IT systems. The next reporting cycle falls in October.
I want to rationalise these salaries and prevent (I hope isolated) scandalous situations. This barely illustrates a much wider problem. We must work with the medical self-government and all stakeholders to halt the growing wave of suspicion. Transparency on earnings, their justification and what they are paid for is in the doctors’ own interest.
Political reactions
The bill was backed by the government coalition (KO, PSL, Left, Poland 2050). Law and Justice (PiS) tabled amendments, such as a centralised public portal for tender offers, but in the end did not block the vote. Confederation opposed the bill, warning it could lead to misuse of data. Left-wing MP Joanna Wicha argued that salary data alone would not fix system problems and that the government should introduce maximum hourly rates, binding work-time records and a ban on mixing public and private practice.
Doctors’ pay in numbers
AOTMiT data show 73% of specialist doctors hold civil-law contracts rather than employment contracts. The median gross monthly income for a contract specialist is 25,595 złoty, compared with 23,666 złoty for an employee specialist. Just over 1% of contract payments exceed 100,000 złoty, while only 0.2% of employment salaries reach that level. Contract doctors are independent entrepreneurs who invoice hospitals per hour or per procedure.
- Contract specialist
- 25595 PLN
- Employee specialist
- 23666 PLN
