The prosecutor's office in Oświęcim is investigating the issue of payment of Covid benefits at the local district hospital. According to investigators, a dozen or so nurses may soon face charges. It's about PLN 300,000.
The Oświęcim district prosecutor's office initiated an investigation following a notification submitted by the administrator of the District Hospital in Oświęcim. According to him, from September 2020 to February 2022, approximately PLN 300,000 was extorted. zlotys.
District Hospital in Oświęcimfb.com/szpitaloswiecim
Investigation
– No one has been charged yet, but a group of a dozen or so nurses has already been selected and they may hear them soon, said Oliwia Bożek-Michalec, spokeswoman for the district prosecutor's office in Krakow.
The prosecutor explained that the crime was about extortion. – Documents regarding the records of nurses' working time were falsified. The names of employees were added and on this basis undue remuneration was obtained in the form of so-called Covid allowances, said Oliwia Bożek-Michalec.
Such an offense is punishable by up to eight years in prison.
We tried to contact the management of the Oświęcim hospital on Friday, but no one answered the phone.
Covid supplement. Who was entitled to it?
In 2020-2021, the Ministry of Health ordered the National Health Fund to pay almost PLN 9 billion for Covid benefits. This was additional financial support for people working to fight the pandemic, in particular, among others. doctors and nurses.
The rules for granting the benefit have changed many times. As assessed in 2023 in its report Supreme Audit Officethis form of support became “a mechanism for transferring 'additional remuneration' to hospital staff, who were often not entitled to receive them.” The auditors indicated, among others: to unclear regulations which, in practice, allowed unauthorized persons to receive funds. It was also emphasized that medical staff were treated unequally in various entities.
As emphasized by the Supreme Audit Office, there were also situations in which one person received the allowance twice in one month.
The monthly allowance limit in one medical entity was initially PLN 10,000. PLN and then 15 thousand zloty. The amount of the Covid supplement was, depending on the period, from 50 to 100%. remuneration.
Main photo source: fb.com/szpitaloswiecim