By Penelope Galliou

With the health sector being one of the government’s most important bets, which it aims to “win” by the end of the four-year term, the prime minister continued the meetings at Megaros Maximos, where the leadership of the Ministry of Health met yesterday to discuss and promote the plan presented by Kyriakos Mitsotakis from her floor TEFover the weekend.

“In 2027 we must have many new health centers, many renovated hospitals, more doctors, better paid doctors, new emergency departments in hospitals, which will not resemble anything that citizens see today. We should have significantly reduced the lists of surgeries” said the prime minister, unfolding his reform plan and his goals for the National Health System in the coming years.

The free afternoon surgeries, therefore, and the faster treatment of the cases that arrive at the emergency rooms of the hospitals were at the center of the meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Health, as this is an urgent need that must be resolved immediately. After all, the European Commission gave the green light for the financing of evening surgeries with 51 million euros, for citizens who cannot afford to pay for medical services and wait for months or years on waiting lists. According to information, it is estimated that the surgeries in question will start in early November, emphasizing the citizens who are waiting for a longer period of time, in the context of the wider strategy for the systematic reduction of pending surgeries in public hospitals, which is now monitored through the single digital list of surgeries, which was implemented by the Deputy Minister of Health Marios Themistocleous.

Equally high in the government’s priorities for the National Health System is the management of emergencies, as the Prime Minister himself mentioned in his statements after the meeting, for which within the next period there will be specific announcements for support initiatives in staff and with the aim of reducing waiting and suffering for citizens in hospitals.

The plans of the Ministry of Health, according to information, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, include the recruitment of 550 paramedics, who are estimated to be able to take up duties in December, with the aim of being employed in the emergency rooms of large hospitals, so that the wait is at least reduced by one hour. At the same time, the direct interventions in the National Health System include the massive new invitations that will be made at the end of September and the beginning of October for approximately 250 doctors in the barren areas following the KYA for the increase of the attraction allowance from the current 100 euros per month to 300 euros and to 600 euros for 18 specialties. At the same time, in the next period it is expected that the Minister of Health will submit, for a vote in the Parliament, the institutional incentives for the barren areas. These are: the reduction of the mandatory years of residence from 5 probably to 4 years, increased points for their transfer after this period and educational permits for participation in international conferences. At the same time, the building upgrade program of the National Health Service in 88 hospitals and 154 Health Centers continues unabated.

Arrangements which are estimated to give a new boost to the National Social Security System which will change for the better, responding directly and effectively to the needs of the citizens, so that at the end of the four-year period, as the Prime Minister said, it will be judged “whether in 2027 the country will really have a new National Health System worthy of the citizens’ expectations”.