Doctors describe the desperate situation in the medical institutions of Attica, part of the National Health System (esy), and are calling for staff hiring, increased funding, and salary revisions.
At a press conference held on Monday, the Athens Piraeus Hospital Physicians Association (EINAP) spoke of long hours of waiting for patients, a shortage of emergency beds and staff, arguing that the system is essentially falling apart.
“There are colleagues who want to staff hospitals in Attica, but there are no vacancies. Staffing is purely a matter of political will. If the government wants, it can solve this problem,” EINAP said. According to EINAP President Matina Pagoni, the union has recently begun to keep a proper record of the problems faced by ESY health centers across Attica, which also include a shortage of specialists.
Kostas Livadas, a urologist from Sismanoglio, described the situation as “disintegrating to the point of hopelessness”. Of the 700 permanent doctor positions promised last May, only 350 were advertised, he said, and that number doesn’t even cover retirements. “In fields of paramedical specialization, such as paramedics, the shortage of personnel has been brought to a complete disappearance. In the last three and a half years, not a single vacancy for a nurse has been advertised. It is impossible for one nurse to serve 40 or even 60 patients on a night shift,” he said. .
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