Hospitals ordered to shape up
Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos yesterday gave hospital directors until fall to implement a 10-point plan aimed at improving the quality of service offered by Greece’s troubled health system. The plan says each hospital must provide an information desk and a complaints register to be filled in by patients and monitored by a ministry official and ombudsman. Medical areas must also be clean and the number of hospitals which accept patients by appointment must be increased. Avramopoulos stressed he has no intention of replacing any chief administrators. Instead, he says, he wants them to be judged on the work they have done. There has been speculation recently that the minister, who took over the Health portfolio after a Cabinet reshuffle in February, intends to replace several hospital directors soon. Avramopoulos also said he will make it a priority to hire extra staff to help hospitals improve services. The ministry will soon announce the hiring of 2,000 nursing staff, 1,220 employees from various professional fields and 400 workers in mental health. Following news in March that two patients contracted HIV after receiving infected blood, the minister also announced yesterday that the government will set up a National Network of Molecular Blood Testing to help make transfusion safer. Nine testing centers across Greece will be equipped with the necessary equipment to conduct the molecular tests by the end of July, Avramopoulos pledged.
