State doctors on Monday said they were sick and tired of waiting for those in charge to address serious understaffing at state hospitals.
The state doctors’ union Pasyki warned it would not sit idle as they need at least 61 physicians.
The union said in an announcement it had “moral obligation to defend in every lawful manner and dynamic action the viability of state hospitals.”
It added that the problems were the result of both actions and omissions by the state health services organisation Okypy which oversees state hospitals and the acceptance of them by the health ministry.
Okypy failed to address and prevent the flight of doctors from state hospitals to Gesy and as a result more physicians are walking out, the union said.
The union said there was an attempt to cover up serious understaffing by bringing in physicians who resigned, adding it was obvious Okypy was not able to attract and hire doctors for the A&Es and other departments.
Pasyki also said that state doctors are forced to carry out unnecessary double procedures when examining patients as they have to use both paper and electronic files.
“Patients often leave with two prescriptions to get some medicine from the private and some from the government pharmacies,” it said, adding that this system was a waste of human resources and increased the probability of medical error.
They also said patients are having difficulties making appointments since not enough administrative staff have been hired yet to deal with patient requests.
