Themistocleous referred to the planning of recruitment for 2026, stressing that a total of 5,000 permanent recruitments and 3,000 recruitments of auxiliary staff are planned.

The Deputy Minister of Health, Marios Themistocleous, speaking to the radio station “Kanali Ena 90.4 FM” and the show “Morning Soundtrack” with journalists Katia Antoniadis and Giorgos Sarantakos, he referred to the coverage of the gaps in doctors on the islands in view of the summer season, the new recruitment of permanent and auxiliary staff in EASY, the increase in appointments, the reduction of waiting times in Emergency Departments and the evaluation of hospitals by patients.

As noted, “of the approximately 300 positions in the Region and especially in the islands, which have remained unfilled since the crisis years, about two-thirds have now been filled. Themistocleous stressed that this improvement had been achieved through targeted incentives for specific specialties and specific regions, which he said had paid off to a very large extent. At the same time, he said that “in the coming days, the major notice will be launched, which will include positions on the islands, with the aim of attracting permanent staff”, adding that “permanence is an important factor in attracting candidates”. Referring to the movements of doctors from the mainland to island and remote areas, he said that an extra 2,000 euros in addition to the salary is provided to cover critical vacancies.

Themistocleous referred to the recruitment planning for 2026, stressing that a total of 5,000 permanent recruitments and 3,000 recruitments of auxiliary staff are envisaged. As he explained,
the permanent hires are largely covered by employees already serving in the system as support staff. The deputy minister said that “the platform for auxiliary nursing staff has already been opened for Attica and those who have applied and have the right documents will be hired.” At the same time, he stressed that “in the coming days the platform will be opened for the rest of the country, as well as for the other specialties”. As he stressed, the goal is for these recruitments to be completed within the next 3 to 4 months.

“Increase in appointments in the health system”

Themistocleous said that the process is progressing and this is reflected in the number of citizens making appointments, which is increasing every month. He noted that “the system started with about 330,000 appointments and today it has reached 550,000, recording a very significant increase. This development is due to the fact that the number of available appointments has increased and a more convenient system has been created for citizens.” Themistocleous stressed that the medical community itself played a key role in the increase in appointments, with doctors making more appointments per week. At the same time, citizens, seeing that they can now make appointments more easily and quickly, are increasingly using the service.

“Reduction of waiting time”

The Deputy Minister of Health also referred to the progress of the programme for Emergency Departments, noting that when the programme was launched, the average waiting time was about 9 hours, while today it has been reduced to 4 hours and 30 minutes. He explained that this average time is now in line with the European Union average. He also made a special reference to the volume of cases, noting that in Attica alone about 600,000 to 650,000 citizens visit the Emergency Departments every year.

Patients’ evaluation of hospitals

Themistocleous stressed that there is already a very large sample of citizens who have evaluated their hospitalization. As he said, “more than 40,000 citizens have participated in the evaluation”. He recalled that those who have been hospitalized for at least one day in hospitals are evaluating and rating and added: “According to the data, the general picture is good, as 75% of citizens said that the hospitalization was good or very good.” The deputy minister pointed out that the evaluation does not only reflect the general picture, but also highlights specific problems per hospital, which can be corrected immediately. He cited cleanliness as an example, noting that if a hospital receives a low score in this area, the governor is obliged to intervene to bring about improvement.

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