Syros

Staff are burnt out

By Penny Bouloutza - Kathimerini

Alexandros Limnaios, orthopediatrician for injuries at the hospital on Syros, pointed out that the population on the island was 10 times the number in the winter (there are 115,000 permanent inhabitants whereas in the summer the population is close to 1 million.)

According to Limnaios, the hospital on Syros and the health centers on the Cyclades islands have been staffed to meet the requirements of the local population. As a result, in the summer personnel are overworked and by October everyone is burnt out. On average, one in three posts at Cyclades health units are vacant and in some cases the number of unfilled positions is higher. On Serifos there is only one doctor. The Health Ministry is to recruit 11 permanent staff, nine on eight-month contracts and 35 in the framework of the OAED program for nursing and administrative positions in the Syros Hospital and health centers. In the summer too, far more serious incidents occur and road accidents are frequent. Patients must be taken to Athens as serious cases cannot be handled at the Syros Hospital, which lacks both an intensive-care and a special-care unit.