The doctors of EOPYY have announced a series of 24-hour strikes to begin on Monday the 25th of November, with representatives of the nationwide medical association demanding that a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and the leaders of PASOK Evangelos Venizelos, SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras, ANEL Panos Kammenos, DIMAR Fotis Kouvelis and the general secretary of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumpas.
Furthermore the nationwide federation of hospital doctors OENGE has announced a strike for the 29th of November, while rumors suggest that EOPYY’s general manager Yannis Vafiadis will resign from the evaluation committee.
The latest developments have caused serious concern to the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, who appealed to the doctors intending to strike on Monday, arguing that it would be preferable for the planned reforms in healthcare to be implemented with the consent of healthcare staff.
The Minister argued that the evaluations do not necessary result in dismissals, but clarified that dismissals may be possible for people who are deemed to not be necessary. Mr. Georgiadis claimed that the reforms were part of the efforts to improve the State’s efficiency. Furthermore he promised that no EOPYY units will shut down, but the Ministry is considering the administrative merger of hospitals and health centers.
