After approval by the Recovery Fund, probably by the autumnwill also come into operation free afternoon surgeriesas the Minister of Health revealed today, Adonis Georgiades. Speaking to ERT news, Mr. Georgiadis said: “When we get the approval from the Recovery Fund, which I expect in the summer, we will be able to start the free afternoon surgeries.”

Afternoon surgeries are a way out for someone who, instead of going to the private hospital and paying 1,000 euros, goes to the ESY in the afternoon surgeries and gives 400 or 500 euros, as the Minister of Health repeated.

At the same time, he also spoke about the course of the afternoon surgeries that now count for three months.

“We said from the beginning that this is a reform that we will judge in one year. However, it is in very high demand. In the first month they had just started, 300 surgeries were performed. In the second month there were 1,000, in the third we approached 2,000. So, they have a very big increase,” he noted.

For incentives which are given to doctors in order to serve in Islands, Mr. Georgiadis said he presented to the cabinet a new provision that increases the incentive for doctors who want to work on islands in the summer. “We will give them an additional 2,100 euros in addition to the salary them and each mayor will be able to pay them as well housing expenses them, so that they have both a free house and more than a salary. Combined with the reform that will allow doctors to practice private work on the island they will go to, they will now be able to collect a much larger income,” he emphasized.

The possibility of having all the staff we need everywhere is not feasible, because there is a shortage of doctors, as the minister added, who explained: “Many doctors do not find it attractive to work on an island, mainly because they think it reduces their development as doctors. We are increasing the incentives and will change the framework as well. We are in collaboration with the Panhellenic Medical Association for a reformation of the framework on how we can make the choice of an island or a barren area more attractive for a doctor.”

For the delays in ASEP regarding recruitment in the health sector, Mr. Georgiadis made it clear that he respects ASEP as an organization and Mr. Papaioannou as a person, to add: “I don’t want to attribute any responsibility per se to ASEP. But it is the government’s responsibility to find a solution to speed up the procedures. Let me give an example. We have an evolving process of recruiting 2,500 nurses over 3 years. This cannot be solved because I have announced another 2,500 nurses this year. It is a transparent process that must exist, but it must also be fast. That it is not fast creates practical problems. All these are issues that the government must regulate because transparency is one issue, but the functioning of the state is another. The state cannot stop functioning. The procedures must be speeded up, they cannot take this long. A nurse can’t get appointed for three or four years, that’s it.”