Punishing private doctors a ‘last resort’
Taking a step back from his harsh rhetoric against private doctors who do not cooperate with public hospitals to help cover serious staffing shortages, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said on Wednesday that it is not his intention to force them to comply, noting that tough measures are the “last resort.”
On Tuesday, Georgiadis warned that he would take “drastic measures” if there is no interest from private doctors to help National Health System (ESY) hospitals for a fee.
“My intention is not to take measures. Measures are the last resort that the state has in its hands, but on the other hand I cannot, as minister of health, pretend that a hospital can operate without a pathologist. That is not possible,” he said.
Since Tuesday, private doctors in areas where ESY hospitals are understaffed such as the island of Kos, Laconia in southern Greece as well as Xanthi and Serres in the north, have been receiving phone calls from hospital administrators inviting them to help cover shortages for a fee.
Acceptance of this invitation will remove the risk of drastic measures being taken by the Ministry of Health, such as the rumored exclusion of private self-employed doctors from e-prescribing.
“We are not at odds with the medical community, nor do we have any reason to force someone to do something they don’t want to do. But in a context of good faith, we should all be able to come to an understanding,” Georgiadis added.
“There are areas of the country where we have repeatedly made many calls for the recruitment of permanent staff in specialties such as pathologists and pediatricians and they are constantly coming up empty,” he complained, and referred to a hospital in Kos which made 14 requests for four GPs to no avail.
The problem of a lack of interest from doctors to fill positions in ESY hospitals has been going on for several years, stemming from low salaries and grueling working conditions.
