Lack of anesthesiologists creating long waiting lists

The shortage of anesthesiologists at Thessaloniki hospitals has led to surgery waiting times of up to two years. “In Thessaloniki, only 50% of anesthesiologist positions at hospitals are filled,” Aikaterini Amaniti, president of the Society of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Medicine of Northern Greece, told Kathimerini.

She says one of the main reasons is that the number of positions advertised is small, and whoever takes a position will be on constant standby and have to move around hospitals to fill gaps. 

Amaniti said a significant number of anesthesiologists head to the private sector, Cyprus, the UK and elsewhere. 

“Without financial incentives, with the existing working conditions, and a hostile climate from hospital administrations and surgeons who blame anesthesiologists for not processing the operating list quickly, the anesthesiologist’s last option will be to go into the public health system,” she said.