Marina Nikolova
Striking doctors occupied the Ministry of Health, came into collision with the police and said they would not leave before meeting the Minister. The doctors held a meeting but they were determined to stay in the building of the Ministry until the government withdrew the bill to reform the health sector. All doctors from the health fund IKA’s offices throughout the country are on 48-hour repeated strikes. Polyclinics closed and hospitals are open only for emergencies between 9 am and 13 pm as hospital doctors have joined the protest outside the Ministry.
Doctors of all unions - hospital doctors, doctors working in the health insurance fund IKA and polyclinicss, permanently appointed doctors, medical students and private practitioners - gathered in the morning outside the Ministry of Health to protest. Meanwhile, Minister Andreas Loverdos was at a press conference at the General Secretariat for Sport to announce the changes in the emergency aid.
Doctors’ representatives insisted on meeting the Minister of Health who was absent and the atmosphere in front of the Ministry was hot especially because of the strong police presence. When the doctors tried to break into the building of the Ministry they were repelled by the police. The chairwoman of the Medical Union of Piraeus Barbara Anemodoura fainted and had to be urgently driven to the hospital of the Red Cross. Minister Loverdos visited Mrs. Anemodoura at the hospital. It was announced that her condition was not alarming but she would remain under medical supervision for 24 hours.
The doctors managed to enter and occupy the building and hung from the first floor a panel with the slogan: "Occupation! Withdraw the bill now." Then they gathered in the conference hall of the Ministry and said they would not leave the building. The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister Michalis Ioannis Timosidis and the Chief Secretary Nikolaos Polizos who were loudly booed by the attending doctors. When Minister Timosidis tried to take the floor the doctors began to shout slogans, did not allow him to be heard and asked him first to apologize and then to speak. The Deputy Minister said that a discussion could not be held under these circumstances but confirmed that he would be available under doctors’ request.
As far as it is clear they are most concerned that the provisions in the bill are vague and it is not clear how the new health care organization will operate as well as the merged health insurance funds. The other issue is lack of staff which will become even more serious because the Troika required only one appointment in five dismissals in the public sector. This also applies to hospitals, doctors say. 1500 doctors of different specialties should have been appointed in IKA since the end of October to meet the needs of the polyclinicss but this has not happened yet.
"The largest scientific and professional associations have gathered – the medical union in Athens, the organization of physicians and polyclinicss of IKA, the medical union of Piraeus. We want the minister to withdraw the bill and start a dialogue. We will not let patients and doctors to the misery" and "The purpose of the ministry is to cut the cost of healthcare below 6% of GDP which is the level of third world countries," said representatives of doctors' unions. "Those who drew up the bill have never queued at IKA. We request the bill to be withdrawn and to discuss the matters again so that we, but also the people, know what to expect," said the president of the union of permanent doctors.
"Many of the things the government said about the bill are unclear. What is certain is that saving money means that the state and the funds will not pay. Self-employed will pay. This is the secret plan of the government. They say that financially independent units will be established in the polyclinicss. Patients will not pay for the examinations because they are insured in a health fund which bears the cost," says the manager of one of the IKA polyclinicss in Athens Panos Andrakakos.
"The Ministry is preparing to ruin the polyclinicss of IKA without saying a word about its plans for the future of these hospitals. One of the scenarios we have heard about is that IKA doctors will go into partnerships with private doctors to establish these financially independent health care units. The doctors themselves will pay for medications, cleaners, for everything. One of the scenarios is the state to pay them a mixed salary of € 1500 and they themselves to pay for their own health insurance, office rent, electricity, water... They will have no money left then. All the people who have health insurance can go to these private doctors without paying anything. I do not know anything more specific. They say one thing one day and something different the next. We had 12 physicians appointed for one year in our polyclinics. Their contracts were renewed for another two or three years and then they were terminated. They were paid 880 euros a month without being paid health insurance and pension contributions. They left and now the patients have to wait a month or month and a half to consult a doctor. Permanently appointed doctors like me who have worked for many years are only 10-15%," said Panos Andrakakos – manager of IKA polyclinics.
According to the official release of the doctors who work in the polyclinicss of IKA, they wanted united polyclinicss for primary health care to be established with free choice of physician, agreements with physicians as appropriate, with private doctors; hospitals to deal only with secondary and tertiary health care and services to meet the current needs of insured patients.
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