Polish health fund fines Piaseczno clinic after audit confirms queue jumping by local officials

Audit findings in Piaseczno

An inspection by the National Health Fund (NFZ) confirmed that local politicians and selected individuals bypassed standard patient queues at the Municipal Medical Centre (MCM SPZOZ) in Piaseczno. The regulatory review examined medical documentation and admission schedules across three municipal health clinics following investigative reporting in July. Inspectors scrutinized 222 medical services delivered to specified individuals, identifying 59 instances where appointment times failed to correspond to the chronological order of patient applications. In those cases, patients registering later in the day received earlier consultation times than patients who had signed up hours before them. Registration schedules contained no required medical notations or administrative explanations justifying why specific individuals received preferential placement.

Documented cases and financial sanctions

The audit report documented recurring patterns of priority access for specific patients across primary care services. Inspectors examined 88 primary healthcare consultations carried out during the 2024–2025 period across the three MCM facilities. One patient registered for 19 visits and received accelerated appointment slots on five occasions, jumping ahead of 44 other registered patients in total. Another patient received 20 consultations and obtained earlier appointment times on seven occasions, including single instances where they entered ahead of 12 and 20 waiting patients. Clinic management claimed that some visits required prioritization to maintain treatment continuity and replenish expiring medication supplies, but the NFZ determined that prescription renewals did not constitute valid grounds for bypassing queues.

Staff testimony and booking pressure

The regulatory review followed disclosures from clinic staff published in mid-July regarding direct interventions by local Civic Coalition (KO) councillors who govern the municipality. Whistleblowers reported that politicians repeatedly contacted clinic management, assistants, and reception staff to obtain immediate consultations, specialist referrals, and prescriptions. When councillors could not reach the clinic director by telephone, they called her assistant, and if she was unavailable, they called reception desks directly to demand faster booking times. Staff members reported feeling pressured into functioning as private medical staff for local officials holding political influence in the municipality. One receptionist stated that reception teams received direct instructions that individuals holding public office in Piaseczno were to receive appointments without queueing.

Regulatory response and penalty payment

The National Health Fund issued a negative assessment of the facility and concluded that the priority bookings breached statutory rules governing public healthcare access.

The analysis shows that patients applying on the same day in earlier hours were assigned later hours than people who applied later, or were booked for distant dates. The described actions of the healthcare provider violate the basic principle of equal treatment of patients in access to publicly funded healthcare services.

The healthcare fund imposed a financial penalty of 24,620 PLN on the medical centre. NFZ spokesperson Paweł Florek confirmed that the clinic accepted the findings, waived its right to appeal, and paid the full penalty. Local Civic Coalition politicians declined requests to comment on the audit findings. The case follows a similar controversy several months earlier involving allegations of preferential medical access at Szpital Południowy in Warsaw.