Our primary task is to ensure development in terms of social justice, emphasized Deputy Minister of Health Irini Agapidakis in her speech on the 2024 state budget in the plenary session of the Parliament.

We responded to the request of 2019 for a strong economy, and after the citizens’ mandate in 2023 to establish a strong and efficient social state, “we are investing in redistributive policies, because for us the phrase ‘we leave no one behind’ is not a slogan but a measurable goal he said Mrs. Agapidaki.

He specifically noted that from 2019 until today we have an increase in spending for Health by 46.5%, for EOPYY by 26.3%, and for hospitals by 97.9%. “In 2024, increased appropriations for Health of the order of 14% compared to 2023 are foreseen,” said Ms. minister adding that there are also approvals for 6,500 recruitments.

Speaking about the government’s core principle of evaluating people and systems, he said that “the increase in hospital governors’ salaries is a decision that goes hand-in-hand with the Home Office’s flagship reform to select agency heads, including hospital governors, on strict merit criteria and conditions and with the participation of ASEP. The goal is to attract, through competitive salaries, competent and experienced executives to be able to upgrade and improve the operation of public hospitals.”

At the same time, we have made a series of moves to increase the salaries of the NHS staff, said Ms. Agapidaki, giving the following examples:

-Coordinator, director of the NHS branch, outside the ICU, who is the head of the medical service department, with two children: With the previous salary, he received 2,954 euros. Now he receives 3,228 euros. From January 1st, he will receive, excluding on-call, 3,387 euros. We are talking about an increase of around 15%. Whereas, with on-call work, the earnings reach 4,355 euros.

– Supervisor A’ of the NSS with one child, received 2,359 euros. Now 2,983 euros. From January 1, without the on-call hours, 3,073 euros, while with the on-call hours, the earnings will reach 4,097 euros, an increase of more than 30%.

We are continuing in this direction, in order to further increase the salaries of medical and nursing staff in the National Health Service, said the Deputy Minister of Health.

Speaking about the intended reduction of social inequalities in Health, Ms. Agapidaki said that this will be achieved by:

– the expansion of prevention programs for the basic forms of cancer and heart diseases, providing free preventive examinations for the entire population, and the foundation of the national telemedicine network, utilizing both the funds of the Recovery Fund and the appropriations from the regular budget.

Specifically, he said that:

-We are creating 305 new doctor-patient telemedicine stations, which will enable the patient to have access, wherever he lives in the country, to specialized doctors. This virtually eliminates disparities in access due to geography. In addition, the remote monitoring of patients with chronic diseases is integrated into this network. Imagine, said Ms. Agapidaki, “a person who lives in a mountain village in Chios or Pserimos. And he has been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Every time he feels symptoms he will have to travel a long distance including his anxiety, to find a doctor to find out if the issue he has is serious or not. With the service that I described to you, the person will have the possibility to be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week 365, days a year by a doctor, for free, through special devices – the so-called smart watches are very similar to them – and so the doctor he can know if his chronic disease needs further management or has a relapse, which can lead to acute symptomatology before it manifests. This way the same patient will be able to be transported to the emergency room in a timely and efficient manner and the hospital will know his condition before he himself arrives.

-Furthermore we are creating 35 new doctor/consultant telemedicine stations so that our doctors have the upgraded training and support from their experienced and specialized colleagues wherever they are in the country. Five new telemedicine training stations to be used as training centers and installed in the country’s university hospitals. Three thousand home monitoring systems, which ensure, also in the case I mentioned before, the possibility of home treatment without the need to move the patient.

Concluding her speech, Ms. Agapidaki said that “with the 2024 budget, we are focusing firmly, boldly and forward, on the strong social state, which the Greek people asked us for, and we have a mandate from the prime minister to implement. This is our duty and this serves the national interest of our country”