1.6 million PLN in a year: How much did Dawid Kacprzyk earn and what does he face?

In brief

Dawid Kacprzyk earned 1.6 million PLN from the National Health Fund (NFZ) in one year, despite lacking a medical specialization.
The case sparked a conflict within the Civic Coalition (KO), where it was labeled the "new octopus scandal."
The Ministry of Health announces stricter control over doctors' work schedules to eliminate cases of "working beyond one's strength."

The Kacprzyk phenomenon: 1.6 million PLN without a specialization

The sum of 1.6 million PLN annually stirs emotions not only in political corridors but, above all, in the medical community, which has been struggling for years with staffing shortages and wage frustrations. Dawid Kacprzyk, a doctor from Warsaw, has become the face of this controversy. He is only 28 years old and still does not hold a medical specialization, which in the hierarchy of public facilities usually means significantly lower compensation than what was shown in his case.

This amount comes directly from the National Health Fund budget. Taking into account standard contract rates, such a sum is mathematically impossible to achieve with a standard workload. Joanna Wicha from the New Left suggests outright that the doctor would practically have to never leave the workplace, which raises questions about the quality of services provided and patient safety.

Kacprzyk's situation is, however, not just a financial issue, but a political one as well. As a district councilor, Kacprzyk found himself at the center of attention for the media and his party colleagues from the Civic Coalition (KO), where this case is referred to as the "new octopus scandal." The opposition and the public sensed an opportunity here to strike at the structures of power, and the case began to take on a life of its own in the context of broader allegations of mismanagement in Warsaw's healthcare system.

For the Ministry of Health, this case became a convenient pretext to tighten control over the working hours of medical professionals. The ministry does not hide the fact that it wants to seal a system in which doctors, by combining multiple contracts, balance on the edge of physical capacity. Kacprzyk is not an isolated case here, but his financial result made him the most visible target for upcoming legislative changes.

Political repercussions: "New octopus scandal" in Warsaw's KO

The case of Dawid Kacprzyk did not go unnoticed within the Warsaw structures of the Civic Coalition. In the corridors, there is talk of "great anger" among party decision-makers. For many KO politicians, the story of the 28-year-old doctor-councilor has become a reputational burden that cannot be easily neutralized.

Inside the party, Kacprzyk's actions began to be compared to the "octopus scandal" (a reference to a past political corruption scandal). This comparison is extremely painful because it evokes associations with times when luxury and being out of touch with the realities of citizens' lives became the main fuel for the then-opposition right wing. Now, the situation is reversing. The contrast between the doctor's earnings and the daily problems of Warsaw residents puts local KO activists on the defensive. They have to explain the activities of their party colleague, which clearly spoils the mood before the next electoral tests.

Adding fuel to the fire are representatives of the opposition, who are scoring points with satisfaction regarding the party's protective umbrella. Joanna Wicha from the New Left struck directly at the 28-year-old's work schedule, commenting publicly: "It turns out that this doctor basically doesn't sleep at all." Such ironic comments are becoming the new standard in the debate about public money.

For the Warsaw KO, this is a warning signal. The party, which builds its narrative on transparency, must now face the question of how a situation arose in which one of its councilors became a symbol of systemic inefficiency. Every day of delay in clarifying this matter only deepens the political distance between the city hall and voters, who are looking more and more closely at how NFZ funds are spent.

Systemic hole: Why can a doctor work 24/7?

The case of 28-year-old Dawid Kacprzyk, who earned 1.6 million PLN from the NFZ in a year, is not just a local political scandal, but above all an exposure of the dramatic inefficiency of the medical work-time control system. The Ministry of Health, pushed to the wall by public opinion and media reports about the "doctor who never sleeps," was forced to tighten the rules. The problem is that current regulations are as full of holes as a sieve, and the NFZ's IT systems cannot verify the reality of the hours reported by contract doctors.

The scale of the problem goes beyond an individual case. The controversy surrounding the management of the Southern Hospital in Warsaw, which in June 2026 stirred emotions in the capital's city hall and among local Civic Coalition politicians, showed that medical facilities have become a field for abuses that managements cannot or do not want to fight. The lack of verification mechanisms means that one medical professional can theoretically be in two places at once, and the payment system does not catch it.

The current state of affairs requires immediate legislative action, including:

Introducing effective verification of the reality of working hours, which would prevent the physical overlapping of shifts in different facilities funded by the NFZ.
Tightening regulations regarding medical contracts to force the reporting of actual service time, not just the number of contracted hours.
Implementing a central system for monitoring doctors' workload, which would curb the practice of "24/7 work" without endangering patient health.

Without these changes, stories like the one about Kacprzyk will repeat themselves. The systemic risk is clear: lack of control is not only a waste of public money but, above all, a real threat to the quality of medical care that patients receive.

State reaction: What steps is the Ministry of Health taking?

The Ministry of Health did not wait for further reports about doctors who magically managed to bend space-time to work unrealistic numbers of hours. The case of 28-year-old Dawid Kacprzyk, who without a specialization collected as much as 1.6 million PLN from the NFZ in a year, became a direct impulse for tough legislative action.

The Ministry has begun a wide-ranging process of verifying the work hour lists of contract doctors. This is not just a random check of papers in selected facilities. Officials are scrutinizing the IT systems where working time is recorded, looking for loopholes that allow for overlapping shifts in different places.

Stricter audits are planned in those hospitals and clinics that show record expenditures on medical staff salaries. The goal is simple and brutal: to eliminate the practice described by the ministry as "excessive hour entry." The state wants to check whether the invoices paid from public money have any reflection in the physical presence of medical professionals at patients' bedsides.

For patients, this is a signal that giant transfers to contract doctors will be scrutinized down to the last penny. For hospitals, however, it means the end of an era of freedom in settling shifts. If the audit shows that the systems were full of holes and facility directors turned a blind eye to impossible schedules, they face disciplinary consequences. Kacprzyk has become the face of a problem that the Ministry of Health is trying to deal with before the public decides that public healthcare is simply a private ATM for the chosen few.

What this means for you

The Kacprzyk case is the tip of the iceberg. Patients will gain if audits curb fictitious shifts, but the contract doctor sector will lose, as it faces a wave of bureaucratic control. The catch is whether the state will be able to implement effective digital tools without paralyzing hospitals.

Questions and answers

Does Dawid Kacprzyk have a specialization?

No, according to available data, 28-year-old Dawid Kacprzyk does not hold a medical specialization.

How much exactly did the doctor earn in a year?

Source materials indicate that in one year, Dawid Kacprzyk earned 1.6 million PLN from the NFZ.

Why did the case cause political outrage?

The situation was considered a reputational scandal within the KO, compared to the "octopus scandal," due to the unrealistic working time of the doctor, who physically could not have worked that many hours.