Georgiades: Individual surgeons with their surgical team in public hospitals

For his decision to introduce into the bill a mandated provision for the possibility of private doctors operating in public hospitals, the Minister of Health informed members of the House’s Social Affairs Committee. Adonis Georgiadis also announced that he would submit an addition to the Health Bill, to enable private work not only to doctors in public hospitals but also to doctors in primary care. “I will accept the request of the president of the Panhellenic Medical Association. In plenary, in Article 7 of the bill on the possibility of providing private work to the doctors of the NSO, I will request and include a mandate to enable private doctors, on specific terms and conditions, to enter into working relationships with the NSO hospitals, for payment of private doctors to the hospital. Not what we have today, the block,” said Health Minister Adonis Georgiades and added: “Today, NSS hospitals can hire a private doctor with a block and if there is a missing position somewhere, the administration asks for it, we approve the credit and we hire it. That’s not what we mean. We mean, a private surgeon paying and operating with his surgical team, inside a hospital operating table. We will put the mandate in place, as we did with afternoon surgeries, and the terms and conditions will specialize in Joint Ministerial Decision.” The Minister of Health also informed members of the Social Affairs Committee that the provision allowing private work to be done by doctors in public hospitals will include doctors in primary health care. However, as he pointed out, this will be done on the condition that personal doctors cannot have patients in their private work, those patients who have been charged with their social security benefits, as their personal doctors. Mr Georgiadis removed from the bill entirely Article 35 which refers to the possibility of starting disciplinary proceedings by the Board of Directors of the Panhellenic Medical Association, regardless of the complaint. “After hearing the bodies and what was heard I have decided to remove Article 35, since there is a great disagreement between the medical clubs and the Panhellenic Medical Association. We heard here the disagreement between the Athens Medical Association, the Piraeus Medical Association, the Patras Medical Association and the Kalymnos Medical Association. There are other medical clubs who disagree and therefore there is no consensus, as I originally thought for this article. My purpose of the legislation is not to bring doctors to fight with each other,” said the Minister of Health. The Minister of Health removed from the bill and paragraph 4 of Article 65 that repealed the provision that “a medical club is not entitled to participate with its representatives in the General Assembly of the Panhellenic Medical Association if, thirty (30) days before the antiquities, it is not financially settled.” The bill also removed Article 44 concerning the authorisation to operate Private Bank of Omphaloplankundial Blood in order to reassess scientific issues by the EOM. The issue will be dealt with in the next bill the way the EOM will recommend. In the parliamentary committee, a positive vote was given by the New Democracy at the beginning of the bill. SYRIZA said against the principle, PASOK stated reservation, the KKE voted against, the Greek Solution reserved, the “Victory” voted against, the New Left voted against, the Freedom Freeway reserved.