Fcking Unbelievable! Greece imposes new criteria for priority treatment in Emergencies of public hospitals. The new criterion is no longer the patient’s state of health but …the hotel where he stays.
The decision for top priority treatment of VIP guests at the Conference League Cup in the ER of Evaggelismos hospital in Athens has triggered an outrage among doctors and personnel of the hospital, unionists, social media users, news websites, newspapers and political parties on Friday afternoon.
Σοβαρά τώρα @AdonisGeorgiadi εσύ και οι διοικητές σου ΔΕΝ ΝΤΡΕΠΕΣΤΕ ΚΑΘΟΛΟΥ ; "κατά απόλυτη προτεραιότητα" οι "VIP" του "Μεγάλη Βρετάνια" και του "Grand Hyatt" ενώ οι κοινοί θνητοί χύμα για δεξάωρα στοιβαγμένοι σαν σαρδέλες στα ΤΕΠ του Ευαγγελισμού, του Νικαίας, του Γεννηματάς ; pic.twitter.com/tIPWXXmYCX
— P.G. Papanikolaou (@PGPapanikolaou) May 17, 2024
It all started after the Federation of Associations of Hospital Doctors of Greece (OENGE) uploaded on “X” an internal circular according to which the governor of “Evangelismos” hospital asks the directors of all departments incl. surgeries commission to examine VIPs of the Conference League Final as a matter of top priority.
Governor’s circular
“Ahead of the CONFERENCE CUP final at OPAP ARENA on May 29, 2024, we inform you that the Hospital is on 24-hour duty on May 28, 29 and 30 regarding the treatment of VIPs (accredited and fans ) who will stay at the “Grand Bretagne”, “Grand Hyatt” and “Marriot Athens” Hotels.
The incidents that will come should be recorded in a separate list at the ER registration Office and will have absolute priority in their examination and the conducting all necessary examinations, if necessary. The whole process will be coordinated by the Deputy Governor X.Y.”
The governor’s decision who most possibly followed orders by the Health Ministry is red flag and unprecedented provocation for hundreds of patients who are stuck for hours in the ER of the public hospitals in Athens, waiting to get the help they need and are being examined and treated on stretchers, as KTG reported two days ago.
OENGE: “If you are a VIP,…”
“Are you a worker, an unemployed, a pensioner, a regular person? If you get sick -picture low left -, up on a stretcher with who knows how many other patients, like a sardine pickled in the ER waiting for hours to be examined with the staff doing stunts to be able to get to you.
If you are a VIP, rich, a spectator of the football final among the few and a resident of expensive hotels in the center – picture bottom right – Evaggelismos hospital is just for you. On a priority basis (regardless of your health condition) and with the staff (the same exhausted one who does stunts on other days) on three-day readiness regardless of whether he has days off or months off, or whether he has done back-to-back exhausting shifts.
For the plebs stretchers and long waiting hours, for the VIPs public hospitals operating as high-end private ones with priority and separate registration because this is how the government and the Health Ministry perceive things. They serve them and work for them. All these about public health for all is for the sake of populism. Shame!” the comment of the Doctors Associations concluded.
For those not aware of the public health in Greece: it is financed by taxpayers money and the social contributions paid by workers.
Does the government have the right to disregard medical criteria and replace them with financial ones?
Before the neo-liberal government of new Democracy contemplates on this moral amd medical crucial question, though, it should first find out how the sick VIPs will identify themselves as such at Evaggelismos registration office:
- With the CONFERENCE CUP ticket?
- With the hotel booking confirmation” or
- The hotel room entrance card?
Needless to mention that with a second and third announcement, hospital doctors expressed their storng opposition to have doctors and other personnel to work on duty 72 hours in a row, that is 3 consecutive days.
PS FCKING UNBELIEVABLE and SHAME ON THEM, as my granny used to say.
Many Greeks wonder whythose chose one VIPs do not seek a private hospital but burden taxpayers and needy Greeks with their possible health issues.
We in Greece have turned into a highly social divided and toxic society.
If they can afford to stay at the “Grand Bretagne”, “Grand Hyatt” and “Marriot Athens” Hotels then I am sure they can afford Hygeia Hospital’s prices.
sure. but public hospitals are better than private ones medicine-wise
I don’t know how much direct experience you have in comparing treatment in private hospitals and public ones but my personal experience, having used both, is the exact opposite.
In many countries in Europe, public hospitals (especially those connected to universities) have most resources to spend on complex and not-so-profitable form of treatments – like brain surgery, complex cancer treatments etc. Private hospitals do treatments that give good financial returns. In general – there are exceptions.
The problem is…..state health workers have said…yes…to working double shifts…in the afternoons…at a price to the public patients..surely its dangerous to work so many hours,yes they need the money BUT that is not teaching governments to seriously sort your state health care and the care of your health workers.
“We in Greece have turned into a highly social divided and toxic society.”
That has been part of the PLAN all along. It is the same throughout Europe.
It ain’t over yet either.
One more example of ‘power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely’.
Is there any suggestion that this directive comes from our favourite politician, Georgiadis?
more or less Yes, he said late Friday “It is obligatory”
It was made clear to European governments some 25 years ago, that already-existing demographic shift implied two things: a future shortage of workers and an elderly population requiring substantially more medical and old-age support. Assuming that there was no increase in the birth rate (which would rerquire substantial government support for young people and young couples), this meant far more immigrant workers and massively increased hospital and GP services to cope with much older populations.
Instead of doing any of these things, all EU governments in the last two decades (mostly right and far-right) decided to try to do nothing to help the younger generation (and in many countries actually to attack them, with university fees along with associated loans and deliberately inflated housing markets), tp spend next to nothing on increased medical services, and even to blame immigrants for the mess of the EU economies and made it a political objective to keep out immigrants and refugees. In other words, they all decided to do the opposite of what a rational person would choose.
Having embarked on this suicidal route, Europe’s politicians then decided to fling in their lot with banks, billionaires and multinational corporations. Even when their governments failed miserably, they could walk into overpaid “advisory” work for several millions a year with the world’s biggest crooks and criminals. Most of the ND politicians are with this mindset, and none more than the mentally-challenged clown that is the Greek Health Minister. Maybe we should refer to him as the Minister for Poor Health and Diminished IQ.