Public hospital accounts lack sufficient transparency

Accountability and transparency are severely lacking in the National Health System.

A study of 90 hospitals and their accounting statements from 2012-20 by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) has found rudimentary reporting that focuses on what state subsidies are spent on and makes no mention of how supplies are used and the state and age of the inventory.

Public hospitals’ financial statements also do not include spending on salaries, since those are paid directly by the Health Ministry, leaving metrics such as expenditure per patient as fuzzy guesses at best, and so is information about the efficiency of spending.

The financial statements are certainly seen by certified accountants, whose comments about their quality “are not taken into account,” says IOBE Director Nikos Vettas.

Available data show that the value of hospital equipment is shrinking, a result of spending cutbacks, while delays in paying suppliers get longer.