Meeting with ministers outside the queue? With a donation to WOŚP, the price was not excessive

• Cooking together, visiting the building of the Ministry of Health, a meeting devoted to Japanese culture, a visit to the Air Ambulance base - the management of the Ministry of Health offered such attractions as part of the auction for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity
• The Minister of Finance made available a joint cycling training session, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk invited everyone for a Kashubian breakfast.
• The auctions raised legal concerns and accusations that unsupervised meetings were being sold to lobbyists. Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that the auction announcement coincided with a discussion about lowering health insurance premiums
• The editorial office of Rynek Zdrowia analyzed the disputed auctions and asked a lawyer to assess them.
• At the end of March this year, we revealed that the meeting with the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector was won by representatives of a chain of pharmacies

111,250 PLN - that's how much was paid for a joint cooking session with the Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna as part of an auction for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

The entire amount for this purpose was collected... on the crowdfunding portal Pomagam.pl (with a surplus, because in total PLN 112,160 ).

The founders of the collection were: photographer Anita Dziemianowicz , whose son suffered from a rare disease; colleague Anna Hernik , who assisted an oncologist; doctor Aleksandra Kąkol, who had suffered from cancer; and "Wprost" journalist Paulina Socha-Jakubowska .

In the fundraiser, the founders indicated that due to their traumatic experiences with the healthcare system in Poland, they were very keen to "meet the Minister of Health in a friendly atmosphere".

The money from the collection has already "bought" two meetings for women. One at the Ministry of Health, and the other during an auctioned cooking event organized at the National Institute of Public Health PZH. And also - according to the participants - an announcement of more.

In the text published in Wprost.pl (no author signed it) entitled "Behind the scenes < > with Minister Leszczyna: Bean waffles and in the background talks about health care" it was pointed out that "although it was supposed to be a family event, and Izabela Leszczyna appeared there with her daughter, the winners of the auction (...), instead of their loved ones, decided to take a group of people involved in health care issues".

In total, we counted 16 participants in the cooking. Among those invited by the auction winners, according to Wprost.pl, were:

• pediatrician Karol Kukowka , president of the "Your Yes Matters" foundation;
• Anna Sankowska-Dobrowolska , obstetrician;
• Anna Łotowska-Ćwiklewska , specialist in anesthesiology, president of the Nie Musi Boleć Foundation;
• dietitian Emilia Kałędkiewicz ;
• Olga Legosz , known online as "Nomad Mum";
• psychiatrist Maja Herman , president of the Polish Medical Media Association;
• Gosia Kośla , President of the PACS2 Research Foundation;
• oncologist in Sweden Kamil Karpowicz ;
• Justyna Walczuk , founder of the MEK2 Research foundation;
• Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram , board member of the Free Courts Foundation
• Tomasz Wypchlak , suffering from stage II glioma, organizer of charity events;
• Maria Kłosińska , doctor, president of the "Mother Doctors" foundation, until recently head of the media and communications department of the Supreme Medical Chamber.

- (...) it wasn't about cooking with a government representative. But - as they (the people who came up with the idea for the collection - editor's note) say - it was about fighting the system that takes away patients' hope, opportunities, support, and finally dignity - we read in Wprost.pl.

The announcement by members of the government and state institutions of their participation in the WOŚP auctions by staging a meeting with each other stirred up a lot of controversy. Commentators pointed out, above all, the dangerous giving away of the opportunity to meet with important officials without any verification or control of the topics discussed.

What's more, the announcement of the auction coincided with a discussion on lowering the health insurance premium, which caused a loss for the system oscillating around PLN 6 billion . During that time, the management of the Ministry of Health collected less than PLN 130 thousand for WOŚP.

Deputy Minister of Health Jerzy Szafranowicz put up for auction a tour of the Ministry of Health building, collecting PLN 10,700 ; Deputy Minister Urszula Demkow proposed a meeting devoted to Japanese culture, which was sold for about PLN 4,000 . The auction of Deputy Minister Marek Kos enjoyed the least interest, offering a visit to the Air Ambulance Service base. This attraction was auctioned for PLN 3,700 .

We asked the Ministry of Health if there were any restrictions on who could attend the auctioned meeting and on the topics discussed at the meeting with officials.

We heard from the employees of the Ministry of Health press office that so far only a meeting with Izabela Leszczyna has taken place, in which the minister was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Health (we received responses on April 8, 2025).

- The auction was open and anyone could take part in the auction; the composition of the meeting participants depends on the people who bid for meetings with the minister - we hear.

The Ministry has a list of people who took part in the auctioned meetings. However, there was no record of what topics were discussed during the cooking with Izabela Leszczyna.

We asked if it was found that there were people at the meetings who might have a business interest in meeting with Ministry of Health officials or taking a picture with government officials representing the health sector. We were told that no such threat was found.

We were also refused access to the list of participants in all meetings due to the provisions of the regulation on the protection of personal data. However, photos from the meeting were posted on the official profile of the Ministry of Health in social media and the private profile of Minister Izabela Leszczyna.

We also asked for a response to the allegations made by some lawyers that the participation of officials in the WOŚP auctions may conflict with the Code of Administrative Procedure regarding arranging meetings with state officials. After all, they were set out of turn, outside the procedure for complaints and motions, etc.

- Meetings with the management of the Ministry of Health as part of supporting the 33rd Finale of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity concerned and will concern the auction items that were put up, i.e. healthy, family cooking, a tour of the Ministry of Health building, learning about Japanese culture and a flight in the Air Ambulance simulator - employees of the Ministry of Health press office told us.

Other politicians also took part in the auctions for WOŚP. For example, the mayor of Warsaw and candidate for the President of the Republic of Poland, Rafał Trzaskowski, also offered to cook together (he collected PLN 53,000 ). Others, such as MP Ryszard Petru , sold an outfit from Biedronka, where he worked for one day (for PLN 4,199 ). President Andrzej Duda put his cufflinks up for auction (they were bought for PLN 20,200 ).

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański decided to offer an unusual type of meeting, "selling" cycling training for PLN 15,400 . We heard from the MF press department on April 14 this year that this meeting has not yet taken place either.

Importantly, unlike the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance decided to introduce certain restrictions. According to the content of the auction announcement, no more than four people can participate in the auctioned cycling training with the Minister of Finance. The meeting will be of a sporting nature, and the goal of both parties is to support those in need within the framework of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

- It is not planned to discuss topics and issues within the scope of competence of the minister responsible for public finances. Moreover, in accordance with the procedures in force at the Ministry of Finance, participation in such events by persons who are not public figures is subject to detailed analysis and verification - emphasize MF employees.

In their opinion, the participation of officials in the WOŚP auctions does not conflict with proceedings conducted under the Code of Administrative Procedure regarding arranging meetings with public officials.

We also sent questions to the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers about the joint Kashubian breakfast at the seat of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister with Prime Minister Donald Tusk , for which PLN 500.5 thousand was paid. We have been waiting for an answer in this matter since March 31 of this year.

In the Rynek Zdrowia magazine we recently reported that representatives of the Ziko company, which runs, among other things, a chain of pharmacies, bid PLN 5,600 for a meeting with the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector Łukasz Pietrzak.

GIF spokesman Damian Kuraś told us at the time that the topics of the talks included the role of pharmacists in the healthcare system, the development of pharmaceutical care and the charitable activities of WOŚP.

He added that the conditions of participation in the auction stated that due to the need to maintain the impartiality of the office, the meeting would not discuss topics related to proceedings conducted in the inspectorate. We were not provided with any notes or transcripts from the meeting.

We ask an expert for his assessment of auctions in which officials "sell" the opportunity to meet with each other. Radosław Płonka , attorney at law at Płonka Ozga Sokolnicki and an expert at the Business Centre Club on commercial law, says that putting meetings with high-ranking officials up for auction may raise some doubts, because people interested in winning such an auction may include people with a commercial interest in meeting with politicians.

At the same time, the lawyer sees value in officials' desire to shorten the distance, so that they are not available for "audiences" only for influential people. But - as he says - it would be good if the rules and substantive limitations of such meetings were clear and made public.

- It is also important that government representatives demonstrate high professionalism during auctioned meetings and do not allow themselves to be maneuvered into discussions that may pose a risk of lobbying or influencing the office's policy or its specific decisions - sums up attorney Radosław Płonka.

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