The authorities of Warsaw are refusing to disclose the composition of the municipal audit team investigating the situation at Southern Hospital following the scandal involving Dawid Kacprzyk, a now former councillor of the Civic Platform (KO). This is significant because, until recently, the hospital’s supervisory board included, among others, the Deputy Mayor of Warsaw, and Rafał Trzaskowski along with other representatives of Civic Platform (PO) had remained unresponsive to earlier alarming reports from a surgeon at the hospital, Dr. Emil Jędrzejewski. Moreover – the head of the capital’s Internal Audit Office, Magdalena Soszyńska-Kamieniecka, has herself been a member of the supervisory board of one of Warsaw’s hospitals (Czerniakowski Hospital) since 2019.
The Niezalezna.pl portal asked the press office of Warsaw City Hall who exactly makes up the municipal audit team at Southern Hospital. To clarify, the question was not about names, but simply: who is conducting the audit. In response, Marzena Gawkowska from the Warsaw City Hall stated that the identity of the auditors would not be disclosed.
“Auditors carrying out audit activities are not public officials within the meaning of the law, and therefore the exclusion of privacy protection provided for in Article 5(2) of the Act of 6 September 2001 on access to public information cannot be applied to them”, she wrote. She also added that disclosing personal data at this stage “could disrupt the proper course of the audit activities, expose auditors to undue external pressure, and violate their personal rights”, citing GDPR regulations among others.
It should be emphasized: not even basic information was provided as to whether those auditing Southern Hospital hold any positions within Warsaw City Hall, and if so, which department or office they are affiliated with. It is worth recalling here that the head of the capital’s Internal Audit Office, Magdalena Soszyńska-Kamieniecka, has been a member of the supervisory board of one of Warsaw’s hospitals (Czerniakowski Hospital) since 2019.
Why does concealing the auditors raise doubts?
The lack of transparency regarding the composition of the audit team is particularly important in the context of political connections surrounding the facility. Until recently, the supervisory board of Southern Hospital included individuals linked to the Civic Platform (PO) environment, such as Aldona Machnowska-Góra, Deputy Mayor of Warsaw, and Robert Kempa, the Civic Platform (KO)-affiliated mayor of Ursynów. Moreover, Rafał Trzaskowski and other representatives of his party had remained unresponsive to alarming reports previously raised by Dr. Emil Jędrzejewski – a surgeon at Southern Hospital and the main whistleblower in this case.
It was Dr. Jędrzejewski who, in a Tuesday interview on Kanał Zero, revealed shocking details about the functioning of the Emergency Department. According to his account, medical procedures were carried out incorrectly, and medical errors led to complications that in some cases resulted in patient deaths. The doctor also stated that medical records had allegedly been falsified at the facility. As assessed by Law and Justice (PiS) MP Sebastian Kaleta during a Wednesday press briefing, “the whistleblower doctor’s account paints a picture of a dying room in the ER”.
The case also has a financial and political dimension. Last year, Dawid Kacprzyk – still undergoing specialization in anesthesiology at the time – reportedly earned 1.6 million PLN. On the ward he managed, politicians from the Civic Platform (KO) were allegedly admitted without waiting in line. After the scandal broke, Kacprzyk resigned from Civic Platform (KO) and from his mandate as a councillor of the Ursus district, and also returned half a million PLN to the hospital.
Delayed reaction and strong words from the PiS leader
Only after the case gained media attention did the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, dismiss the hospital’s management and supervisory board and announce legal steps. Late on Tuesday evening, he wrote on platform X: “Tomorrow I will submit a motion to the Prosecutor General for the urgent initiation of appropriate explanatory actions”.
On Wednesday, the situation in Warsaw hospitals was also addressed by the leader of Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, who called for the establishment of an independent Public Trust Commission. The PiS leader did not mince words when commenting on the reports about Southern Hospital.
“It seemed that things could not get any worse: fictitious employment, siphoning money from the hospital’s funds, VIP lounges, and now falsifying medical records and patient deaths… To call this villainy would be saying nothing! Pathology!”, wrote Jarosław Kaczyński.
Two prosecutorial investigations are currently underway in connection with Southern Hospital – one concerning fraud amounting to over half a million PLN, and another concerning abuse of power by a public official. Proceedings have also been initiated by the Chief Professional Liability Officer.