Dr. Emil Jędrzejewski, former head of surgery at Warsaw's Południowy (Southern) Hospital, appeared with his lawyer on Monday at the district prosecutor’s office for a second round of questioning in the case.
The questioning lasted all day. Piotr Skiba, spokesman for the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office, said the transcript ran to 29 pages.
“Taking into account the additional information provided to prosecutors today, we see the need to secure additional medical and organizational documentation from Południowy Hospital,” Skiba said.
He added that the list of witnesses was growing and would mainly include medical staff.
Dr. Emil Jędrzejewski. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Prosecutors last week secured electronic records at Południowy Hospital.
Skiba said witness questioning based on those materials would begin this week at the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office and the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA).
Skiba also said prosecutors had received materials from Dawid Kacprzyk, the hospital’s former emergency department coordinator, including contact details.
"If we decide to take evidence from this witness, we now know how to contact him and where to look for him if necessary," he said.
Prosecutors did not seize Jędrzejewski's phone, which he said contained messages about alleged irregularities at the city-owned hospital.
Skiba said all messages considered relevant by prosecutors and the witness had been shown during questioning and written into the transcript.
He said the information was valuable and would be verified, and added that it was too early to assess whether the testimony was credible.
Piotr Skiba, spokesman for the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office. Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
Jędrzejewski was first questioned last Wednesday after appearing on the zero.pl online current-affairs channel.
He claimed that procedures at the hospital’s emergency department had been carried out improperly and that medical errors had led to complications, in some cases allegedly ending in patients’ deaths.
During his first questioning, Jędrzejewski gave prosecutors a sheet of paper with two names of people he said may have died because of negligence at the hospital’s emergency department.
Prosecutors said one of the names was already the subject of proceedings concerning the death of a patient whose body was found in a toilet.
They said the second person named by Jędrzejewski did not appear in cases handled by Warsaw prosecutors.
They also said Kacprzyk did not appear in any of the proceedings connected with those names.
Kacprzyk’s lawyer, Jacek Dubois, told private broadcaster TVN24 on Monday that his client had not been on duty in the first case and had not yet worked at Południowy Hospital in the second.
Dubois said a private indictment and a civil lawsuit for protection of personal rights against Jędrzejewski had already been prepared.
Two investigations are underway into Południowy Hospital. One concerns alleged fraud of more than PLN 500,000 (around EUR 116,000, USD 133,000). The other concerns alleged abuse of authority by a public official, including possible breaches of triage rules in the emergency department.
The Polish Chamber of Physicians (NIL) is also conducting proceedings.
Separate checks are being carried out by Warsaw City Hall and the National Health Fund (NFZ), which finances Poland's public healthcare system.
The State Labour Inspection (PIP) is also due to examine the hospital.
The health ministry has ordered the provincial governor and the national consultant for emergency medicine to inspect emergency departments at Południowy Hospital and Mazowiecki Szpital Bródnowski, a hospital run by the regional authorities in Warsaw's Bródno neighborhood.
The case follows a June 15 report by zero.pl, which said Kacprzyk, then coordinator of the emergency department at Południowy Hospital and a Civic Coalition (KO) councilor in Warsaw’s Ursus district, earned around PLN 1.6 million (EUR 380,000, USD 440,000) last year while training as an anesthesiology specialist.
The report also alleged that Civic Coalition politicians were admitted to the department without waiting in line and received comprehensive tests almost immediately after registration.
Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski has since dismissed the hospital's management and supervisory boards, appointing a new chief executive.
He has denied receiving information about irregularities at the hospital before the allegations became public.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said last Wednesday he had instructed the justice minister to personally oversee investigations into allegations of misconduct at Południowy Hospital following claims by Jędrzejewski that medical failures may have contributed to patient deaths.
"Every aspect of this case will be clarified," Tusk told reporters, adding that anyone responsible for wrongdoing, negligence or false accusations would face consequences.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP