Children’s Hospital in Athens stops operations due to staff shortages

The Aglaia Kyriacou Children’s Hospital in Athens announced on Thursday that as of February 12 it will no longer will not be able to conduct operations on a regular basis due to critical staff shortages.

Operations will only be carried out in “critical emergencies due to shortages, in particular, of doctors, anesthesiologists, as well as surgical assistants”, the hospital’s surgical department said in a statement. “The P. and A. Kyriacou Children’s Hospital alternates shifts with the Agia Sofia Children’s Hospital every 15 days a month. Despite the large number of operations performed, it has been experiencing problems for some time due to a lack of staff,” – added in the statement.

The problem has existed for several months and authorities have been alerted to it since June 2023. “The elective surgery program has stalled and surgical clinics can no longer provide services or provide education as only two of the hospital’s 10 operating rooms are operational.”

The recent retirement of two anesthesiologists, as well as the non-renewal of a contract with a private physician, further forces the active staff to continually work overtime. Despite calls from the surgical team to provide additional personnel, neither the hospital administration nor the 1st Attica Health Region took any action, the statement added.

Staff shortages in public hospitals have become an ongoing problem despite government promises from 2022, while funding is being cut more and more every year. With doctors retiring en masse at the end of 2023, patients have found it difficult to make an appointment through the online platform since the second half of January. Patients are forced to use private sector services, whether they have money or not, and yet they continue to pay health contributions to state funds.

Note: Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis plans to introduce a so-called “day surgery” scheme from March 1. Patients on long lists for surgery will pay between 1,000 and 1,500 euros out of pocket to get surgery at public hospitals in the afternoon if they do not want to wait, the minister said. The price has not yet been determined, since the operation is no longer a matter of health, but of financial capabilities.

Keep in mind: the second term of the neoliberal New Democracy will go down in history as working zealously to end public health care before it collapses completely. It is not clear why the population pays a significant part of their income for public health insurance…

PS The author of the publication tried to make an appointment with an ophthalmologist yesterday, but the closest date that was available for February 8 is July 16 – more than 5 months. Such waiting periods and appointments deprive any sense of using public health insurance. However, it is impossible not to pay insurance premiums to state funds – it is fraught with large fines.

Source link