Prosecution of hospital staff for talking to the media

Η Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers, denouncing an incident of disciplinary action against medical staff at the Edessa, with the cause of the prosecutions being the statements made by the hospital doctors to the media.

More specifically, the POEDIN denounces the decision of the Administration of the Pella Hospitals to prosecute the president of the local Union of Employees of Edessa Eleni Stavrakaki as well as the President of the Union of Employees of the Hospital of Giannitsa Simos Fostiropoulos, who is also a member of the General Assembly of PDEDN.

«This decision was accompanied by a crude intervention of the hospital administration in the internal affairs of the Edessa Workers» Union, as it interferes with the internal procedures of the union and demands that the colleague speak after consultation with her.« says the statement of PDEDN, which continues, stressing that »unfortunately supporters in this attack were members of the Board of Directors of the Edessa Union who, instead of being on the side of the colleague, preferred to side with the hospital management.

«The hospital administration, with such actions, attempts to silence any voice that opposes and highlights the real problems that occur in hospitals in the management of pandemic in order to cover up both its own responsibilities and those of the Government», says PDEDIN, while accusing the government of trying to «criminalize trade union activity and stifle every voice that presents the huge problems facing hospitals and their workers».

About the situation in the two hospitals, Edessa and Giannitsa, PDEDIN complains of sloppy management of coronavirus cases and shortcomings that result in poor quality of services, which increases the risk for hospitalized patients. In the Edessa hospital, according to the PDEDN, patients suffering from the virus are treated with other patients.

«In this way, the spread of the virus is inevitable. Molecular analyzer is not available in the hospital and samples of suspected cases are sent to laboratories outside the hospital. Responses and investigation of suspected cases within the hospital are delayed,» he stresses, denouncing inadequate protection measures and noting that «many health workers are sick and a physiotherapist located at intubated in the Military Hospital of Thessaloniki».

At the same time, as he says, in the hospital of Edessa there is a ICU three beds in the hospital which is always full, and a makeshift ICU was built in the artificial kidney department which is not functioning as a ward and where three intubated patients are treated. «The dead patients in the hospital are disproportionately high compared to the reference population of the hospital. This shows the poor quality of services provided,» he says, stressing that every hospital should make public the data on inpatient and coronavirus deaths.

The president of the PODEN, Michael Giannakos, stresses that the president of the Edessa Hospital Employees' Union was invited to a administrative examination under oath and was removed from her position for «committing the crime of giving an interview to the local press as she was required to do in her institutional position and reporting the difficulties of hospitalisation of coronavirus cases. He called on donors to support the hospital as lay workers» representatives and the system's administrators have done many times. In fact, the administrators were photographed in front of containers several times with donors. They filed a whistle-blower report with the union president and called her in for an administrative hearing under oath."

Mr Giannakos, says that «although she was ill with coronavirus along with her whole family, illegally engineered her removal as president of the Association. The other members convened a Board of Directors and decided to remove her without her knowledge, at a time when she and her family were suffering from coronavirus. What times we live in. She was stripped of things belonging to the Association without being asked to hand them over. They even took away her personal belongings. Instead of apologizing to the hospital administrators for their service with dozens dead, they are asking for change. This is not democracy.

They did the same with the president of the union of the hospital of Giannitsa, he said and continued: «Because he dared to tell the problems of the hospital, they call him to an administrative examination under oath as well as intimidate him in every way. We will not stand idly by in the face of this climate of terror. Local stakeholders must be mobilized and file a report with the Public Prosecutor's Office to investigate any negligence by hospital administrators that may have contributed to the coronavirus deaths in hospitalized patients.».