The tragic events took place on December 5, 2022. A 43-year-old man was walking down the street with his wife when he suddenly lost consciousness. The woman immediately began resuscitation and continued until the Emergency Medical Services team arrived. The patient was then transported to the Łużyckie Centrum Medyczne in Lubań.

That day, the hospital’s duty doctor was an anesthesiologist who is now 52 years old. She assessed the patient’s condition in the ambulance and then refused to admit him to the hospital, citing a lack of beds in the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit.

Following the dispatcher’s instructions, the paramedics had to transport the 43-year-old to a hospital in Zgorzelec, approximately 24 kilometers from Lubań. The man died shortly after being admitted to the facility.

Experts pointed to the lack of required procedures

During the investigation, a team of experts from the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, from the Department and Institute of Forensic Medicine, was appointed. Their opinion became one of the key elements of the proceedings.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the experts unequivocally stated that after the critically ill patient was transported to the hospital in Lubań, the doctor failed to implement the required medical procedures in the Admissions Room.

She also failed to carry out the required diagnostics. In particular, no initial rapid diagnostic assessment aimed at identifying potentially reversible causes of cardiac arrest was undertaken. Nor was a blood test ordered using a critical-parameters analyzer, which can help rule out certain reversible causes of cardiac arrest.

The experts also indicated that the doctor did not perform ultrasound examinations that could have enabled the detection of pathologies relevant to assessing the patient’s condition.

The prosecutor’s office emphasizes that by failing to perform these procedures, the doctor did not determine the cause of the deterioration in the health of the man, who was in critical condition.

Investigators:

The suspect, citing the lack of a bed in the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit, refused to admit the injured party without securing him until a free bed and transport could be arranged and without the required consultation with a specialist anesthesiologist, sending him to a hospital 24 kilometers away even though the patient was experiencing cardiac arrest.

The doctor denied guilt

The prosecutor’s office charged the woman with unintentionally exposing the patient to the immediate danger of loss of life or serious harm to health. The alleged offense carries a sentence of up to one year in prison.

The accused denied committing the alleged crime and gave an explanation. She had no previous criminal record.

The indictment was submitted to the District Court in Lubań. It is this court that will decide whether the doctor will face criminal liability for the decisions made on December 5, 2022.

The doctor left the hospital in Lubań. Where does she work today?

As reported by the eluban.pl service, comments concerning the operation of the Lubań hospital appeared after this information was published.

Some commenters claimed that in cases of serious health threats they would prefer to use facilities in Zgorzelec or Jelenia Góra:

The hospital in Lubań should have been closed down long ago. Because, as I know from observation, all serious cases—ambulances from the scene are mostly directed straight to Zgorzelec or Jelenia Góra.

Another commenter stated: “(...) every resident of Lubań knows that the hospital in Lubań is a disaster! And it is better to seek help in Zgorzelec.”

Comments also stated that the accused doctor no longer worked at the Łużyckie Centrum Medyczne and had reportedly found employment in Zgorzelec.

The editorial team at eluban.pl decided to verify this information. The portal established that the doctor had resigned from the Lubań hospital herself and had not worked there since August 2023. However, her name did not appear on the official staff lists of the Zgorzelec hospital.

The editorial team therefore contacted the Wielospecjalistyczny Szpital – SP ZOZ w Zgorzelcu with a request for access to public information. The question concerned whether the doctor currently provides medical services at the facility to which the 43-year-old, sent from Lubań, was taken in December 2022.

The director of the Zgorzelec facility, Zofia Barczyk, told the Lubań-based media outlet:

In response to the request for access to public information, Wielospecjalistyczny Szpital – SP ZOZ w Zgorzelcu informs that Ms. ***** ********** currently provides medical services in the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit under a civil-law contract.

The District Court in Lubań will decide on criminal liability for the events of December 5, 2022.