Doctors’ strikes set to continue
State hospital doctors ended their 48-hour strike with a demonstration outside the Health Ministry yesterday but vowed to continue protesting their wages by walking off the job next week as well. The doctors said that they would stage another two-day strike starting on Wednesday. The medics are in dispute with the government because they claim that the Health Ministry altered an agreement between the two sides on pay and working hours. The action being taken by the medics, as well as their decision to limit their hours, means that some state hospitals are unable to deal with all the patients they receive when they are on duty. Officials at the Erythros Stavros Hospital in Athens yesterday directed some patients to the private Henri Dunant Hospital, as some departments did not have medical staff available for certain procedures. The doctors union has decided that the general hospital in Nikaia as well as hospitals in Thessaloniki, Patras, Iraklion and Ioannina will not be on duty next Wednesday.
