The model that was followed in the vaccination against covid-19 will be followed by the Ministry of Health in the matter of surgery lists, i.e. it will be done with full digitization of the process.

“Right now we have a list that has never been cleared in the hospitals. There are cases on the hospital lists that are 4-5 years old and they give us a false picture.

To be able to make a clarification, you need what we call methodicality and persistence. To be able to do a cleanup of a list you have to have it digitized first and have a central system that can monitor and see”. In the next months or so we will have the full picture so that we can intervene and reduce the waiting list, said Deputy Minister of Health Marios Themistokleous, speaking to ERT.

The provision for the unified list of surgeries was passed yesterday in the Parliament and as Mr. Themistokleous said,

“We have a very specific plan, with steps that must be taken in the immediate period…”. He noted that covid-19 in our country, as in the rest of the countries, increased the list of surgeries by about 25%. We have a wait for what are called “cold operations,” he added.

For the restructuring of EKAV

Mr. Themistokleous said that the participation of the Armed Forces in the EKAB crews resulted in the two – three months that it is applied, a 30% increase in EKAB shifts in the areas where the measure is applied and 1,500 transports.

“If this measure did not exist, either the transfer would not take place or it would be delayed too much,” he said.

“With 100 recruitments that have been made in Attica, we have increased 8 ambulances in the morning and afternoon shift and 5 ambulances in the night shift. And sometimes these may seem like numbers, but behind the numbers are hidden our fellow citizens, who may be at risk their lives at that moment. And for EKAB a comprehensive plan was presented of how to renovate, upgrade digital systems and how to do an administrative reorganization of an organization that is turning 40 years old,” he said.

For the Operation of Hospitals

Our hospitals are with outdated building facilities, said Mr. Themistoicleous. The newest hospital, he added, which is in Attica, was built 20 years ago.

He referred to the renovation projects that have been launched for more than 1 billion, but also to the daily life inside the hospitals, which can be solved with interventions and this is the responsibility of the administrations, he said.

“The NHS is a very large organization and many times someone focuses on the problems without seeing the big picture. I have said before that the NHS interacts with 100,000 people a day. 100,000 and I say it again. 70,000 people visit hospitals and health centers in the country, 3,500 are operated on a daily basis, 6,500 are hospitalized on a daily basis. This is for me perhaps the most productive sector of the Greek state”.