Children’s hospital will no longer perform surgeries due to staff shortages

Children’s hospital Aglaia Kyriakou announced on Thursday it will no longer be able to perform surgeries on a regular basis starting February 12, due to critical understaffing.

Surgeries will only be performed for “critical emergencies, due to lack of staff, specifically of doctors, anesthesiologists, as well as surgical aid staff,” the hospital’s surgical division said in a statement.

“The Aglaia Kyriakou Children’s Hospital has been alternating shifts with the Agia Sophia Children’s Hospital every 15 days per month. Despite the large number of cases conducted in its operating rooms, it has for a while now experiencing problem due to staff shortages,” the statement reads.

The problem exists for several months and authorities have been alerted. “The program of schedules surgeries stagnates, with the surgical clinics no longer able to provide their services, nor their educational work, since only two of the hospital’s 10 operating theatres are operational.”

The recent retirement of two doctors has further forced active staff to continuously work over time. Despite the surgical team’s calls for additional staff, no action has been taken by either the hospital’s administration or the 1st Healthcare Region of Attica, it adds.