The bill of the Ministry of Health entitled “Secondary care, medical education, salary regulations for doctors and dentists of the National Health System” is introduced in plenary today, after the majority vote of the relevant parliamentary committee. The bill, which - among other things - allows the employment of doctors of the NHS in the private sector (article 10), and provides for the advertisement of positions of doctors of the NHS, with part-time employment (article 7), was voted for by the deputies of the New Democracy, with the deputies of SYRIZA, KKE and MERA voting against, while the deputies of the Movement for Change and Hellenic Solution reserved for the debate in plenary session.
The bill has the strong support of the Association of Patients of Greece and the Association of Rare Patients and “everything else, most likely, is corporatist,” Deputy Health Minister Asimina Ganga said, commenting on opposition reports on the opposition's opposition of medical associations and doctors of the NHS to the controversial provisions. Ms Ganga said the bill aims to strengthen the NHS, better training of doctors and central planning based on the needs of Greece's residents and visitors. “Hopefully, next time the Southwest will be in government and the bill will do well and the NHS will do even better,” Ganga said, responding to estimates by the opposition that the legislative initiative will cost the ruling party politically.
Minority rapporteur Andreas Xanthos said that the government is proceeding to the final vote on the bill in conditions of serious “social and political delegitimisation” without the consent of the medical world, health care recipients and the opposition: With the bill, “the government gives the coup de grace to the NHS”, and for reasons of ideological adherence to the neoliberal concept of less state “but also under the pressure and influence of big business interests, who look forward [..] in attracting valid, experienced and reliable human resources for private health care facilities,” Xanthos said.
The speaker of PASOK-Movement for Change, G. Fragkidis, stressed that the opposition, but also the vast majority of stakeholders reject the philosophy of the bill. At its core, he noted, the government's bill appears to be part of a plan to privatise health care.
The speaker of the KKE, Giorgos Lambroulis, spoke again of a bill that must be “withdrawn”. The bill was universally condemned by hospital doctors and their collective bodies, Lamproulis said, denouncing the government for its policy of supporting business groups in the health sector.
Hellenic Solution spokesperson Maria Athanasiou said that this is a bill that leads to further deterioration of health services, further strengthening the commercialisation of public health and the expansion of the private health sector.
Finally, the MP25“s candidate, Maria Apatzidi, pointed out that not only the associations of doctors of public hospitals, but also the medical associations that represent the private sector are opposed to the bill. This is, he said, a ”paving bill“ for secondary care, which ”sweeps away what is left of the people's right to free health care.".
