In the crosshairs of the broadcast «Radio Arbyla» the Deputy Minister of Health was found, Irene Agapidaki, following the reproduction of a clip from the OPEN broadcast, where our compatriot journalist Panagiotis Stathis brought her confronted with the harsh reality of Kythira: a woman gave birth on the island with the help of a gynecologist in a... teleconference, as the hospital lacks a permanent gynaecologist. (Note that the reference to a midwife as mentioned in the broadcasts is not valid and seems to have been made in error)
When Panagiotis Stathis described this incident on air, Irini Agapidaki was unable to give a simple, human answer. Instead of acknowledging the obvious - the tragic inadequacy of the health system on the small islands - he resorted to an embarrassing statement about «prevention programmes» and «new windows of opportunity in prevention».
Radio Arvyla, known for its caustic humour, took the baton and highlighted the fiasco in a way that only it knows: «Politicians get into the parties and they put a chip on them - PASOK chip, Syriza chip, ND chip - and then they can't talk like human beings,» Antonis Kanakis said. No matter what you say to them, he explained, they respond like robots, unable to recognise even the most blatant failure.
Behind the obvious criticism of journalists, however, lies a shocking fact: shortages of key specialties in hospitals on small islands is now a red-hot issue. And unfortunately the overall picture in the NHS is disheartening.
According to data from the Panhellenic Medical Association (PIS), in the last five months (October 2024 - February 2025), the balance of recruitment and retirements of doctors in the NHS is negative: 168 doctors were recruited, but 213 left. Of these, 126 retired, while 87 resigned - most of them new curators, i.e. the scientific «tomorrow» of the NHS. This is reported in an article by in Kathimerini Penny Boulouzza.
Particularly revealing are the figures for arid and island regions, where for 51 posts advertised, only 18 found interested parties. As for the famous barren allowance which was supposed to bring doctors to the islands, PIS calls it «inadequate and unreliable», revealing the absolute fiasco of the government's health policy in the region.
NHS: a job without a future
Young doctors no longer see the NHS as a career option. Shortages, low salaries, exhausting conditions and the continuous deterioration of the public health system lead most people to resign or flee abroad. Despite the much-touted 2024 reforms, the picture remains sad: recruitment by the drip, resignations by the waves and the NHS ageing along with its doctors.
The Kythera incident is not just an «isolated event». It is the mirror of the total collapse of the NHS, especially in island and remote areas. However much the Deputy Minister of Health chooses to respond with generalisations and «prevention programmes», reality contradicts her: the state withdraws, doctors leave, citizens are left unprotected.
