Plan for hospital mergers to be revised, officials say
Government plans to streamline state hospitals as part of a broader cost-cutting drive demanded by foreign creditors are to be revised as the current blueprint contains some mistakes, a senior Health Ministry official has admitted in comments to Kathimerini.
The most serious mistakes have been made in plans for changes at the capital’s hospitals, the official said, noting that members of Attica’s new regional health authority have been asked to revise the blueprint for the merging of hospital departments.
The aim of the ministry is to reduce by 661 the number of hospital departments and clinics, which currently number 2,500, and reduce by 11,000 the number of hospital beds, of which there are now 46,000.
The planned cutbacks have prompted angry reactions from hospital doctors and nursing staff who say that the downsizing is comprising the quality of care being offered.
