Wait for surgeries at state hospitals can take months

Patients must wait up to 16 months for surgery at state hospitals due to understaffing and inadequate equipment, according to the federation representing Greece’s public hospital workers (POEDIN).

An assessment of 46 hospitals across the country by POEDIN finds them all coming up short. Thessaloniki’s Ippokrateio has 15 surgery rooms, but nine are closed due to a lack of nurses and doctors, and so patients must wait up to 16 months for an operation.

At the Attiko Hospital in Haidari, western Athens, seven of the 14 operating rooms are closed. Only five of the 12 surgery rooms are open at the Thriasio Hospital in Elefsina, western Attica, where much of the equipment is dated, according to POEDIN.