The Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors’ Associations (OENGE) and the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees (POEDIN) are carrying out a nationwide strike today, with basic demands, mass recruitment of permanent staff, human hours, substantial increases in wages, free healthcare for all people.
The two Federations have a meeting scheduled for 9:30 am at the Ministry of Health.
“For Public Health to have a future, it is necessary to face the chronic pathologies of underfunding and staffing”, highlights POEDIN. According to health authorities, there are 45 thousand organic vacancies in hospitals. “There is no revenue available that can solve the serious problems of the SNS if the root cause is not addressed, which is the lowest level of public health expenditure, which is 5.5% of GDP, while the average of European countries in the Union is 7.5% of GDP”, reports POEDIN.
OENGE reports that citizens have to pay 5.9 billion euros out of their own pocket and medicines have increased by up to 480%, while describing the situation in hospitals it notes the following: “continuous ‘orders’ for transport to cover gaps, overtime, unpaid overtime, and exhaustion of on-call, rural and specialized staff before they even begin working, third-world conditions after each general shift in the large hospitals in the basin and elsewhere.”