Granny gets tests appointment in public hospital in Feb 2022!

Mother and daughter could not believe their eyes when they received a paper from the General Hospital in Chania, Crete, that granny’s tests were scheduled for February 2022.

Not six months, not one year … the elderly woman has to wait for two whole years in order to be examined with a gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

According to local media zarpanews, the daughter initially thought that the scheduled date was a typo. She phone the hospital to confirm the date. She was informed about the frustrating reality.

“I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. I laughed a lot. Not because it was a joke but because one has consider it only as a joke in order to avoid getting very angry,” the daughter said.

She criticized the state of the public health system in Greece saying once it happens to you, you learn about the problems.” She added that “because we don;t shout every day about them, it doesn’t mean that they don;t exist.”

When examination in public hospitals are scheduled  literally in the “far future”, the way to private hospitals is one-way street, whether one has the money or not.

The case has gone viral on Greek internet and media report that now also Health Minister, Vassilis Kikkilias, has been informed and investigates the issue.

Once he gets the full information about the why, he will also understand the problem in public hospitals..

PS It is not the first and not the last time we report about examinations in public hospitals scheduled to times that can  pose a serious risk for patients’ lives. No need to add more words to comment. It is one of the chronic diseases of the Greek health system. But two years? I’ve never heard of such a thing before.