The case of the anesthesiologist, who allegedly asked for a “facet”from a patient, at St. Anargyroi Hospital, was reported by Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiadis, speaking on the main newscast on ANT1.
“The doctor in question was reported for “enveloping” in 2018. The then hospital management did not impose a penalty on him, nor did the then management of the MHA, nor the then political leadership address the issue. As a result in court he was acquitted as the hospital did not present any prosecution support. This was the policy of the previous government and the previous ministers, the Syriza era“ Mr. Georgiadis was initially quoted as saying.
And he added: “In his era, the message I am sending is very clear: “Any doctor who is caught with a file has no place in the NHS. I’m not interested in irrevocable convictions or anything. You get caught red-handed with a envelope, you’re out of the NHS“”.
Asked about what the anaesthetist claimed, the health minister said: “He has said incomprehensible things. That he is a patient, that he did it to give it to his assistants, that he is retiring in a short time, that he didn’t do it just like that, and other things without a string. The act exists on video. There is no issue. As long as he accepts that the video is real, he got money. And he asked a woman on the gurney for it before he went into surgery. It is outrageous to try to take advantage of a person’s pain.”
As to whether there is a possibility of this doctor being returned to the post because of delays in certain cases, the health minister was adamant. “During my tenure, those doctors who have been caught with ‘envelope’ have been fired. Just the day before yesterday we fired one from Hippocrates, who even resigned before we fired him. He left the NHS because he was convicted in the first instance. There is no way while I am Health Minister that I will tolerate such behaviour.”
“I have given NHS doctors the right to do private work at the same time. As we speak, the legislation we passed to tax doctors’ on-call time independently, in their tax returns NHS doctors have an increase in income – through the tax cut – of between €6,000 and €12,000. So we have given them both an increase in their salaries and the right to carry out private work. They have no excuse to ask for a “envelope”“ concluded Georgiades.
