The Ministry of Health’s controversial structural changes in healthcare, which include dismissals, suspensions and transfers of doctors and healthcare staff, have prompted EOPYY doctors to call a strike until the 9th of December. Under threat of a “sudden death”, the EOPYY doctor union is currently debating the future of their strike.
The Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis on the other hand gave an interview on Athina 9,84 where he explained that he does not want “a war with the doctors” and claimed to be up for “discussion over anything”. Mr. Georgiadis then added that “there is no chance of the reform not going through” and that the EOPYY doctors should call off their “pointless strike”.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Health Zeta Makri appeared on Mega Channel’s Sunday morning chat show, where she denied rumors that the government has already decided upon the “sudden death” of the troubled EOPYY service.
Mrs. Makri explained that the goal of the current plans for the healthcare system is to unify the administration of primary healthcare services, as well as determine hospital needs for the types of doctors who are necessary. The Deputy Minister stated that the review in public healthcare will be complete by the 6th of December.
Then again on Monday Mrs. Makri appeared on ANT1, where she condemned that the EOPYY clinic strike during negotiations with the Ministry and specifically the EOPYY doctors on strike who operate their private clinics in the afternoons.
The president of the EOPYY doctor union Panagiotis Psycharis accused the Deputy Minister of spreading rumors that EOPYY was going to shut down.
