Doctors quit over cuts to hospital funding
A group of 10 doctors yesterday resigned from the general hospital in Lefkada, northwestern Greece, to highlight their objections to funding cuts that, they say, compromise medical treatment and put patients at risk. In a letter to Health Minister Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou explaining their decision, the doctors wrote, «We will play no part in exposing our patients to risk.» According to sources, the institution has been operating on an absolute minimum of staff. Yesterday, the second day of a two-day nationwide strike by hospital doctors, there was reportedly only one doctor on duty. One instance cited in the letter, and believed to have prompted the doctors to quit, relates to the hospital’s pediatric unit. According to the letter, the parents of children being treated in the unit had been asked to sign a declaration stating that they assume full responsibility for leaving their children there.
