When at the end of November the only anesthesiologist in Lake had to be absent for emergency reasons, the hospital on the island remained open for at least three days. Association of Hospital Physicians Pella at the same time he sounded the alarm because two of his radiologists Giannitsa Hospital (the third has serious health problems) they were asked to perform 15 vigils each. As they reported, “the prospect of being fired forced one radiologist to resign.” “In many parts of the country, due to a shortage of doctors, one has to be on duty 15 times a month, and in extreme cases every day. AT Attica And in Thessaloniki in the best case, the doctor will make 4-5 visits per month, which means 50-55 hours of total work per week, and in the worst case, he can reach 7-8 calls per month, that is, 80-90 hours of work per week”, notes on “K” Secretary General of the Greek Federation of Associations of Hospital Physicians (OENGE), neurosurgeon Panos Papanicolaou.

Today they work in public hospitals Greece has 24,000 doctors (qualified, specialized, specialist and ancillary) and nurses, paramedical and other personnel 62,000. The Federation of Hospital Physicians estimates that there are 5,500 full-time vacancies for physicians and 25,000 vacancies for other staff. But, according to doctors, the real need for full-time doctors is 8,500 people, and for other personnel – at least 30,000 people.

“The gaps have created an explosive situation in hospitals and led to great suffering for patients: in Emergency departments due to lack of staff and hospitalizations in pathological departments. Where you hear about extended hospital stays in pathology departments, there is usually a shortage of staff in the clinic, laboratories, or even a shortage of trauma carriers,” notes Mr. Papanicolaou, adding: “Of course, gaps increase queues for operations. . Even at our own hospital in the state of Nice, which currently has a sufficient number of anesthesiologists, only seven out of 11 operating rooms are working due to the small number of nurses.”

According to the government, over the past three years, 18,500 health workers have been hired, most of them ancillary, in total across the entire health system (including primary health care, EODI and other organizations). The employees’ counterargument is that many left due to retirement and layoffs. Health Minister Thanos Pleuris has pledged to hire 700 permanent doctors by 2022, according to Mr Papanicolaou. more than 350 doctors have retired this year, and more than 350 have left. As for the medical staff, it was announced from May 2021 that 4,000 people will be recruited on a permanent basis. The process is not completed, but even if it is done, it is expected that these positions will be hired by support staff who are already working in hospitals,” says Secretary General OENGE.

Contract renewals

The shortcomings of the NHS are also shown by the government’s efforts to retain hospital staff. The palliative care bill introduced in Parliament would extend the duration of all medical ancillary staff contracts by one year, as well as renew the contracts of those hired to fill suspended health worker vacancies, regardless of the latter’s return from early 2023. It is estimated that the support staff in hospitals is currently around 7,500 people. The Secondary Care Act, which was passed earlier this month, provides for a new special pay scale with higher wages for NHS doctors, and allows them to work privately under certain conditions. Finally, it has already been possible to extend the retirement of doctors in certain specialties, such as anesthesiology, radiation therapy, oncology, biopathology, radiology, cytology, in their positions until June 30, 2023.