A. Skertsos: The government aspires to form a new NSS with a focus on the citizen

“The government aspires to form a new National Health System with a focus on the citizen”: with this key phrase, the Minister of State ‘Akis Skertsos, responsible for the coordination of government policies, submits in his article in “Kathimerini”, the triple increase the proportion of people who are healthy at all stages of their lives, improve working conditions and benefits for the public health system, and make the most of taxpayers’ money in the field of Health.

Firstly, “the introduction of a personal doctor, free of charge, for every Greek family with the bill of the Ministry of Health that was voted a few days ago in Parliament, marks the transition from a two-year period of almost monothematic crisis management in the national health system, to a new phase of relative regularity It now enables us to implement our ambitious public health planning. , writes in quotation marks and adds:

“The timeless shortage of Primary Health Care has cost us dearly over the last two years. In human lives that could have been saved if they had received proper guidance from their personal physician in time (today only 1.3 million people have it). And of course in hospital overload, as a first instead of a second line of defense – as it normally should be against an acute contagious disease.

“Long before the pandemic broke out, it was clear that the national health system was the ‘big patient’ who had relapsed due to the drastic, in most cases ‘blind’ cuts during the memorandum years,” he said.

“The corona-lailapa just showed all its structural problems:

-funding (we are the 22nd country in the EU in terms of health expenditure as a percentage of GDP) and extremely low salaries of medical and nursing staff,

-absence of measurement and evaluation systems and therefore unequal use of available resources,

– Lack of adequate primary care network leading to a burden on our hospitals even in minor cases,

-absence of uniform protocols and procedures for the management of critical diseases resulting in health centers and hospitals of different speeds and capabilities per region,

– Lack of digitization and an organized and complete digital patient file that connects health monitoring with the well-being of every citizen.

-severe weakness in specialized intensive care units with sufficient numbers and well-trained staff

– Shredded and non-digitized procedures for the supply of medical supplies from each health structure separately resulting in waste

-sensibly fewer nurses than doctors.

“twice the private spending of citizens, the so-called out-of-pocket-spending, from the rest of Europe, about 35% of total national health spending.”

It is certainly important, according to the Minister of State, that “this system withstood the unprecedented pressure due to the pandemic, thanks to the over-effort of its people, doctors, nursing, administrative and technical staff – and we all thank them for that. But also thanks to its strengthening in infrastructure and human resources in the last 2.5 years: we more than doubled the ICU beds, we hired at least 18,500 people, we digitized services that primarily allowed the timely mass and rescue vaccination of citizens, we launched synergies with the private sector for the best / faster meeting of pressing needs “.

The article goes on to focus on over-mortality over the past two years: 27 (16th out of 27) in total over-mortality during the two years of the pandemic.Excessive mortality is the most reliable indicator of the impact of the pandemic that measures and compares the total additional number of deaths from each cause in each country worldwide. “With the 2nd oldest population in Europe and a ‘problematic’ health system as we described it, this is a significantly better-than-expected performance,” he said.

While highlighting as “the biggest challenge of the next day”, the “redesign of the public health map taking into account the health profile in each region, in order to fulfill its purpose, to provide quality free prevention and care to all citizens, which is basic obligation of the state “.

And, reaching the core of the article, “this design is part of” Greece 2.0 “and its implementation will be funded by a Recovery Fund with 1.5 billion euros of public investment by 2026. The transformation of the health system will be carried out with a specific and an achievable five-year timetable that has already begun to be implemented:

-with the intangible prescription and the electronic distribution of referrals for examinations

-with the introduction of -free- personal doctor as the first line of defense of ESY.

-with the free mammograms for 1,300.00 women 50-69 years of the “Fofi Gennimata” program that start before the end of May and for another 4 years of diseases immediately after “.

Submitting the government plan for Health, A. Skertsos undertakes that:

“Within the next 12 months, the renovation of the 156 Health Centers will begin, we will change the operating framework of the hospitals and the selection and targeting framework of their administrations, we will create a digital platform for collecting, analyzing, interpreting data for epidemiological surveillance, centralizing the supply wasteful, we create the electronic file of each patient.

The next three years will be dedicated to the training of health professionals, the introduction of new specialties in the system of PHC, the establishment and full operation of a total of 110 Mental Health Units, the upgrade of 80 Hospitals, with new laboratories at Papanikolaou Hospital and center radiotherapy at “Sotiria”, in the development of 315 new telemedicine stations for the service of remote areas and 3,500 new points of home care.

The Health 2.0 plan is costed and articulated on measurable goals. It aims at better indicators of individual health for each of us, increasing public spending on the health system and reducing the money that each citizen gives to take care of his health, increase and better training of nursing staff.

In conclusion and “taking into account the current and future health needs of the population, the government aspires to form a new National Health System with a focus on the citizen. We consider it a major investment in the well-being of society. Our vision is to increase the proportion of people healthy at all stages of their lives, to improve working conditions and benefits for the public health system, to make the most of taxpayers’ money, a tough battle that has begun with visible results but it certainly needs to be given every day. ”

Source: AMPE