The Greek government has indirectly admitted that it takes no actions whatsoever to strengthen the Health Care system amid the growing pandemic. It announced that regular surgeries are decreased by 80% in regions with increased risk for Covid-19 and by 20% in the remaining in increased surveillance.
The cuts were announced on Saturday evening during a live coronavirus briefing by Head of Civil Protection Nikos Hardalias, who did not even bother to previously inform neither hospital doctors nor personnel.
Announcing the new restrictions as of November 3, Hardalias said among others, that “foreseen is the suspension of the planned surgeries by 20% in the areas of the “increased surveillance” (Zone A) and by 80% in the areas of “increased threat” (Zone B).
Zone B include Attica and northern Greece, home of 5-6 million people.
The announcement triggered outrage among public hospital doctors, with the Federation of Hospital Doctors to speak of an “open concession that there has been no substantial straightening of the public health system.”
With press releases, doctor’s unions condemned the decision which they described as “catastrophic and deadly.”
They demanded explanations for the severe cuts by those in charge.
“”Let them explain to us exactly what science envisages the almost complete abolition of surgeries in the public health care system and where exactly poor people, ie the vast majority, will have to go for necessary operations as they cannot afford to pay private hospitals,” union OGNE said in a statement.
The union stressed that “the public health system is transformed into a system for one disease, resulting in the risk of mortality and morbidity increase in relation to other diseases.”
They recalled that they had recently received assurances that surgeries would not be suspended.
What happened to the repeated government announcements that the public health care system is strengthened? Nobody knows….
Speaking to daily efsyn, a doctor at Asklipiio hospital in Voula, south Athens, said that there have been no doctors’ hiring, but only of nurse who thus are young and do not have the experience to deal with such a difficult issue as the pandemic.
PS A cousin of mine had an important surgery for April when the 1. lockdown was imposed on March 23 and froze among others scheduled surgeries. At first, his doctor told him that they could wait end of May, then June then July… In the, the operation took place early September because no further postponement was possible. Then even if lockdown is reversed, the number of operations in public hospital surgeries per month is given, emergencies are pushed in between and the waiting list is getting longer and longer.
well i’m sure the masks will protect them against cancer too.