Op-ed: The chimera of the health ministry’s ‘personal doctor’ for everyone plan

By Aris Ravanos

Well-thought-out analyses of geopolitics, the global crisis, and the war in Ukraine are all well and good.

Beyond that, however, there is the harsh reality of daily life.

There are a host of problems in many sectors of our daily lives, but the critical situation in the healthcare system is at the top of the list, and it must be addressed urgently and in a substantial manner.

Naturally, we must address the energy crisis and galloping inflation, that have dealt a severe blow to the income of households.

The state, however, has a duty to provide solutions, which we have not seen in the healthcare system,

From the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the National Health System (ESY) was not bolstered as it should have been.

A few weeks ago, the launch of the health ministry’s “personal doctor programme” – let us set aside the previous family doctor plan that never really operated – has led hundreds of thousands of our fellow-citizens to desperation,

There are many problems involved.

The system lacks doctors and everything is up in the air.

Someone may live in the Athens suburb of Galatsi and be registered with a doctor in Pallini [over 16kms away], if he or she can find one.

Every pathologist or general practitioner can register up to 2,000 patients.

The number of doctors that expressed an interest in entering the programme is small, and clearly does not suffice.

For example, if you have a municipality with 30,000 residents with one or two doctors, that blows the programme out of the water.

Residents on the island of Naxos [with over 21,000 residents] said yesterday that there is only one doctor available and 2,000 people have already registered.

What does one do with the rest of the residents?

There are many doctors who do not want to sign up for the programme because their payment is delayed for many months by EOPPY [the National Organisation for the Provision of Health Services, the country’s biggest insurance fund]

Literally, everything is up in the air.

The health ministry must realise this immediately and take all the necessary steps.

Providing health care to citizens is of the utmost importance.

Indeed, it is the paramount issue.