Warsaw hospital sackings and prosecutor probe follow reports of VIP fast track for governing-party politicians
The Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office has opened an investigation into the emergency department at the city's Southern Hospital, where a young doctor and local councillor allegedly created a non-medical priority system for politicians of the ruling Civic Coalition and their families, while other patients waited up to 10 hours.
The fast-track allegations
Dawid Kacprzyk, a 29-year-old anaesthesiology resident and Civic Coalition (KO) district councillor, coordinated the emergency department (SOR) at Warsaw's Southern Hospital. A media investigation by the portal Zero.pl reported that he had set up a separate, accelerated admission pathway for KO politicians and their relatives, bypassing standard triage rules. The hospital's medical staff described the arrangement as a "private Kacprzyk clinic".
Earnings and working hours
Kacprzyk earned 1.6 million złoty in a single year despite lacking a specialist qualification, according to asset declarations cited by several outlets. The same documents show he purchased a 900,000-złoty flat in cash and drives a Porsche Panamera worth over half a million złoty. Time logs indicate he logged around 331 hours per month at the Southern Hospital while simultaneously holding shifts at three other medical facilities and attending council sessions. Journalists spotted him appearing in the media during shifts he was supposedly working.
The Chamber has filed an official complaint with the professional liability ombudsman over the missing shifts.
Prosecutor steps in
On Wednesday the Warsaw Regional Prosecutor's Office announced it had opened an ex officio review into two possible offences: creating a patient-admission system in the Southern Hospital's SOR based on non-medical criteria, contrary to triage rules, which could have exposed other patients to a direct danger of loss of life or serious health damage (Article 160 § 1 of the Criminal Code); and certifying falsehoods in working-time records to obtain a financial benefit (Article 271 § 3).
The prosecutor's office is examining suspicions of a non-medical patient admission system at the Southern Hospital's SOR and of false statements in work-time documentation made for financial gain.
City hall audit and sackings
Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski ordered an emergency audit on 15 June. Partial findings already confirmed irregularities in how Kacprzyk's shifts were scheduled. The hospital terminated all his contracts on 17 June and is preparing a fraud notification to prosecutors. The mayor has also asked the supervisory board to dismiss the hospital's deputy director for medical affairs, Agata Kusz-Rynkun, who approved the doctor's schedules and invoices. The board is due to meet on 18 June.
- Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski orders an emergency audit of the Southern Hospital.
- Partial audit results confirm irregularities in doctor Dawid Kacprzyk's shift scheduling.
- Prosecutor opens investigation; hospital terminates Kacprzyk's contracts; mayor asks board to dismiss deputy medical director.
- Supervisory board scheduled to meet to decide on deputy director's dismissal.
Patient experience
While the VIP pathway was operating, other patients faced severe delays. One patient reported waiting 10 hours with sciatica without being offered even an intravenous drip, adding that "the doctors simply don't care." Another, a 40-degree-fever with chest tightness, was dismissed and was hospitalised days later after the prescribed treatment failed. An 82-year-old woman waited 10 hours and was told the estimated wait time was three days.
The emergency department is tragic, hopeless. Avoid it at all costs.
Political fallout
PiS MPs Anna Kwiecień and Łukasz Kmita carried out their own parliamentary inspection and questioned the timing of Trzaskowski's audit, noting that it started at 5 p.m. when administrative offices close at 3 p.m., calling it "a cover-up attempt." The hospital issued a statement stressing patient confidentiality and declined to release details about individual care, while emphasising that any unauthorised disclosure of health data is illegal. The National Health Fund (NFZ) has been brought in to review the medical appropriateness of past decisions.
