OUR Lemnos since noon on Monday, April 10, he has been without the supervision of an anesthesiologist. For some time now, the only anesthesiologist in the island’s hospital has been on sick leave, and until now his vacancy has been occupied by a doctor transferred from another medical institution in the country. “The island will be without an anesthetist for the entire Easter at least. How it happened for 15 days at Christmas” Konstantinos Katzigiannopoulos reports “K”.psychiatrist, director of the National Health Service at the island’s hospital and member of the General Council of the Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors’ Associations.

The absence of an anesthesiologist creates problems for many hospital functions. “In practice, this means that the hospital is left without a surgical room, cannot deal with emergency cardiology or emergency pathology. Orthopedists cannot perform operations. They can only put a cast without an anesthesiologist. And we are talking about an island where, due to weather conditions, transfers are not always possible,” notes Mr. Katzigiannopoulos. The shortcomings don’t end there. The hospital has one internist, two on-call cardiologists, a radiologist and a surgeon who even spent 50 consecutive days on duty. As Mr. Katzigiannopoulos points out, “We don’t have a gastroenterologist or a urologist. We’re not even talking about an endocrinologist. It’s a luxury.”

For 10 days

On Monday they left Kos hospital and two pathologists from Evangelismos Hospital who came to the island to cover the clinic. “The ten days they spent in the hospital was an oasis. But good things don’t always last.” notes on “K” Coordinating Director of the National Health Service of General Medicine, Maria Frazaki. In Kos, the hospital has not had a permanent doctor for a year now. And in this case, the gap is filled with movements.

As Ms. Frazaki notes, “we know that on the 19th the pathologist from another unit will come again, then another one will come. And so on. But moving staff and changing faces is not the solution. It is impossible to organize a clinic like that. Luckily, we have excellent medical staff who are very helpful.” Meanwhile, tourism on the island of Kos is gaining momentum. It’s not just the lack of pathologists. One radiologist. How many days should this person be on duty? Surgeons complain that they do not have constant access to radiologists. One pediatrician. We have two doctors in the cardiology department, one of whom is on special parental leave and works only on duty,” emphasizes Ms. Frazaki. Ahead of what everyone predicts will be another high summer tourist season for the country, many of the island’s medical facilities are facing staffing challenges.

According to survey conducted by the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workersimage a week ago was like this: on Santorini the only 72-year-old anesthesiologist quit, the hospital was left without a pathologist, and a year later, two doctors of this specialty moved to the hospital without a cardiologist. IN teno cases were seen by a pediatrician (no pathologist present), her hospital/health center Naxos it did not have a gynecologist, and the radiologist served only emergencies. Health centers of Ios, Andros, Milos, Paros they didn’t have a microbiologist either Amorgos the only cardiologist. In the hospital Kefalonia served by one general practitioner, assisted by a traveling general practitioner and a private. The intensive care unit of the hospital is closed due to a shortage of doctors.

Even in areas with heavy tourist traffic, such as Tinos, Paros, Ios, gaps are filled with emergency solutions.

In his last statement Ministry of Health Of the 854 permanent medical posts, 41 are for medical institutions in the Aegean and 13 for hospital staffing in the Ionian Islands. The hospital in Kos has two positions for pathologists at the level of director and curator B’. “And that’s exceptional. We asked a lot for these posts to be re-advertised. In September of last year, two positions for pathologists were advertised, but there was no interest from potential doctors. The same was done for the position of radiologist and pediatrician.” For the hospital on Lemnos, the positions of anesthesiologist, surgeon and radiologist were announced, and even at the rank of director, to make them more “attractive”.

By law, any person assigned to a desert area hospital/medical center must remain in that position for at least five years before attempting to transfer to another hospital. According to Mr Katzigiannopoulos, “Even when doctors are interested in coming to a hospital, they usually see it as a stepping stone to join the NHS and then move on to another hospital. We want the doctor who comes to stay. However, he must be motivated to do so.”

Incentives

Recently, the Ministry of Health passed a law providing, in addition to the regular salary, 1,800 euros per month for doctors and 1,200 euros for nurses and other staff who temporarily move for official reasons to medical institutions on the islands.

OUR Panhellenic Medical Association calls for a comprehensive modernization of the law to reward doctors for attracting and staying on the islands. In his letter to the Ministers of Health (the first was sent in February 2023, followed by two more reminders in March and April 5), he asks for an adjustment to the 1983 allowance. from a monthly salary, but based on the salaries of ESY doctors in 1983. Thus, for the calculation of the monthly competition allowance, it is assumed that curator B’ has a salary of 142.56 euros. , curator A’ 178.20 euros and director 225.71 euros. On top of this theoretical salary, there is a supplement that starts at €11.40 and ends at €112.85.

PIS offers additional financial incentives such as mortgage subsidies, tax credits, as well as scientific incentives such as making it easier to obtain study permits for transfer to other hospitals, faster advancement of qualifications, and the possibility of completing a doctoral dissertation at a nearby university or other hospital after three years of service. .