The highly publicized measure lengthens the wait for free morning procedures
Day by day, the story of the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis about the successful afternoon surgeries in public hospitals, which the patients pay for out of their own pockets, is collapsing. Ad. Georgiadis, in an effort on the one hand to convince the citizens that he is following groundbreaking policies in the NHS, and on the other hand to show the Maximos Palace that he is producing work, he “sold” the paid afternoon surgeries as a major reform of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
But his argument disintegrates every day in practice, since in all public hospitals it is proven that the waiting lists of patients who wait years to have a simple operation not only do not get smaller, but on the contrary grow. And this is because the waiting lists are bypassed by those who have the necessary funds, since they are the first to enter the operating table. But if those on waiting lists and anxiously waiting for surgery for years were wealthy, they would have chosen a solution to their health problem sooner by going to the private sector.
Already in the first week of operation of the “Georgiadis reform”, the hospital trade unionists exposed the Minister of Health, revealing that the patients who are operated on in the afternoon were not registered on any waiting list. They simply appeared out of the blue, in consultation with doctors, paid the necessary fund and bypassed any waiting list.
At the same time, however, even surgeries were canceled because the conditions stipulated in the law promoted by Ad himself were not met. Georgiadis. Indicative is that the 1st Health Region (1st Health Region) was forced to cancel an operation at the Athens Ophthalmology Clinic because the anesthetist who was going to participate in the afternoon surgery was on call and according to the provisions she should not have been working. Moreover, the staff shortages in the hospitals are such that even the patients who come in the morning hours to receive free medical services cannot be served.
Corresponding revelations are made daily by the trade unionists, who also proceeded with mobilizations in order to prevent patients from being charged to the public health system, whose services until now patients enjoyed free of charge.
Lists in the province as well
Meanwhile, all of Georgiadis’ arguments for paid afternoon surgeries are being dismantled by the day. It is characteristic that he has long argued that evening surgeries are done to reduce waiting lists in public hospitals, but it remains unknown why small provincial hospitals have waiting lists, since many of them show extremely low occupancy.
It is indicative that the government itself – despite officially denying it – is attempting to merge health units across the country with the argument that they are not needed, since their attendance is limited because there are other hospitals nearby. It is becoming clear that many doctors in order to reap financial benefits are already beginning to give more weight to afternoons than to free morning surgeries where patients do not pay out of pocket.
Commanders in waiting
On the other hand, the situation that is now taking shape in the National Health System (NHS) and with the private characteristics given to it will be called upon to be managed by the new hospital administrators who will be appointed in the coming months. Already this weekend the candidates are sitting on the… desks, as the Kerameos law provides that they will have to pass a written competition before they can take over a hospital again. The law has caused a lot of grumbling within the ND, since the candidate executives complain daily to high-ranking members of the Maximos Palace about the test process they have to undergo.
In this way, they cannot secure a position in the ESY with certainty, as the written competition goes through ASEP. It is typical that high-ranking government officials and ministers are still raising objections to the law in question – even though it has been passed for months – as reported by Documento. Very often they express their strong displeasure in Mitsotakis environment for the arrangements promoted by the Minister of the Interior.
It is also indicative that many prospective hospital administrators and health district administrators have been doing special tutorials in recent weeks in order to be able to cope with the test that will be submitted by ASEP, which mainly follows American standards. Of course, the verification of supporting documents and diplomas will follow immediately after in order to remove those who have submitted fake documents. A process that is familiar in the ND, as in the past several hospital administrators have been found outside the NHS who had presented fake diplomas and postgraduate degrees.
However, the final choice will be made by the Minister of Health, who will end up with the lists of those who qualify from the written competition. This fact again makes the whole process completely party-controlled. In fact, based on reliable information from Documento, many executives who currently serve in hospitals believe that they have already ensured the continuation of their career in the NHS, since they believe that they will get the green light from the government to stay after the stages that will be follow through ASEP. It is also noteworthy that the Kerameos Law does not set any age limit, with the result that many candidates are well over 70 years old.
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