After reporting on the shooting incident of the 89-year-old man, Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistocleous also spoke to ERTnews about helping EESY in 2026,
the deputy minister announced the call for doctors in hospitals in both Attica and the region, which has been increased from the original plan of 850 to 1,000 positions. “They will cover all regions and I remind you that we have changed the procedure and now from the day of the notice we have appointment of the doctor in the hospital in a period of two to four months,” Themistocleous said.
“We have changed the whole legislation, it is now very fast and we have managed in cases that were very urgent, for example the anaesthetists at Aglaia Kyriakou, from the day of the notice in two months we have the doctor in the hospital to work,” he added.
Referring to the extra bonuses, Themistocleous said that incentives are given to doctors who choose border regions. “The country is divided into two regions according to the difficulty of finding doctors. Up to 600 euros in addition to the salary allowance is provided,” he said, recalling the “great donation of Stelios Hadjiioannou, which for 47 small islands gives 80 doctors 1,500 euros in addition to the salary, tax-free.”.
On the evaluation, he noted that with a sample of 50,000 patients, the process continues, with an important element that those who were admitted to a hospital respond. The questionnaire, created in collaboration with the Patients’ Association and academic institutions, includes 30 questions and takes about 5 minutes to complete, covering everything from patient contact with doctors to cleanliness and food.
As he pointed out, “a survey of 800 people is too large a sample and provides a realistic picture of the hospital. The hospital administrator who got a low score has to make a correction within a very short period of time.”
As for the recruitment of nurses, he said that “at the moment the platform for Attica is closed and will be reopened in a short period of time for other applications, while it is being opened these days for the rest of the country.”
At the same time, he noted that 90% of patients have found the doctor they wanted, while the waiting time in emergency rooms has been reduced from 9 hours to 4.5, describing it as quite low.
Targeted recruitment of staff in the emergency rooms, as well as the renovation of the departments, proved to be important, as the patient’s travel time is reduced, and the so-called “bracelet” also contributes, according to Mr. Themistocleous.
As he said, “from my experience, in the emergency room, a patient with a fracture from a minor car accident has to be examined by four different specialties – a surgeon, a chest orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon – and have a CT scan, an ultrasound and laboratory tests.It is like visiting seven different doctors in the afternoon and that is why sometimes it takes a long time to complete all these examinations.”
Finally, he referred to mental health facilities, stressing: “One of the most important initiatives announced by the Minister of Health is the 40 new mental health units. This includes Day Centres and mobile clinics, which will exist for two extremely serious problems, autism and dementia. There are 21 in autism and 19 structures in dementia. These are conditions that have a very significant impact not only on the patients but also on their whole family environment.”
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