The scandalous salaries of doctors were revealed by journalist Michał Janczura, who described on the pages of Wirtualna Polska a scheme involving the extortion of money from the National Health Fund, which the company Spine, founded by two neurosurgeons, was allegedly involved in. The president is Dr. Mateusz Szylberg, and a board member is Dr. Maciej Mielczarek. Initially the company was supposed to be registered in Bydgoszcz, but over time it was moved to Poznań.
They earned 300,000 PLN per day
Michał Janczura described situations that occurred in two small hospitals in Mogilno and Miastko, where there were no conditions for neurosurgical procedures, yet they were performed. The scheme involved a total of 5 neurosurgeons. In the Mogilno hospital – according to Wirtualna Polska – a unfavorable contract was signed with Spine, under which doctors collected 65% of the amount allocated for the procedure by the NFZ. The unfavorable contract was signed by the hospital director Ewa Bonk-Woźniakiewicz, who previously ran the Wybrzeże theatre. Her successor Sebastian Jankiewicz, upon discovering irregularities, reported the case to the prosecutor’s office.
"Doctors took 65% of what the NFZ paid for each procedure. On Saturdays they performed dozens of procedures lasting 3 to 10 minutes each, according to the documentation. The NFZ reported a procedure four times more expensive: one they could not perform in such a short time," we read in Michał Janczura’s text in Wirtualna Polska.
How did it happen that doctors earned up to 300,000 PLN per day? According to the portal, doctors were supposed to perform a pain‑relief procedure coded 04.25, but were billed for a procedure coded 03.96. For the first, the NFZ pays 1,500 PLN, and for the second 6,500 PLN. The difference is fundamental, not only in the amount of the benefit. The cheaper procedure is simpler and much faster, allowing neurosurgeons to perform up to 25 of them in just 4 hours. The second requires preparation, including admitting the patient to the hospital and keeping them there after the procedure. This did not happen, because there were simply no conditions for it.
According to hospital records – as reported by the portal – there were days when doctors performed up to 50 procedures. An average of 25 procedures multiplied by 6,500 PLN each came close to 162,000 PLN per day. Spine received 65% of that amount, i.e. almost 105,000 PLN. This gave a hourly rate of over 26,000 PLN. There were times when procedures were performed for even 12 hours, allowing doctors to earn over 300,000 PLN per workday.
The same company performed similar procedures in Miastko as well.
Huge fines and financial arrears
The NFZ audit proved that irregularities occurred in the Mogilno hospital, for which the hospital was fined over 2.6 million PLN. Why the hospital? Because it has the contract with the NFZ, not Spine. And this is not an isolated case. According to Wirtualna Polska, one of the hospitals received a fine of almost 13 million PLN.
And that is not the only problem. Hospitals where the scheme was supposedly carried out are indebted and have no money for day‑to‑day operations. One could say that the neurosurgeons’ actions led to “sucking all the money out of them.” Worse, these hospitals still owe money to Spine, which its authorities are trying to recover.
What happened in both hospitals is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. It is possible that the neurosurgeons used other medical facilities in the country for their scheme as well.
See also: Poles do not want an increase in health contributions. What solution will the ministry find to improve the health care situation?
