Greek health system: Dissatisfied patients and doctors

The lack of organization and personnel in the health system are the two main reasons for dissatisfaction of the population with percentages of 74% and 52.4%, respectively, while patients recognize in many cases problems with hospital equipment and old buildings.

Only 41.5% of citizens are satisfied with the health system, while doctors evaluate the health system negatively by 49.7% and only 25.7% of them are satisfied.

These findings result from a GPO survey for the Panhellenic Medical Association, which was carried out last April, among 700 doctors and the public (1198 citizens), to evaluate the country’s health system.

Citizens in the region are satisfied with the health system at a rate of 48.2%, but in Central Macedonia and Attica, dissatisfaction prevails with rates of 43% and 41.1%, respectively. Focusing on the public health system, in rural areas citizens are satisfied by 47.3%, while in Central Macedonia the dissatisfaction rate increases to 47.2% and in Attica to 44.7%.

During the presentation of the research, the president of Panhellenic Medical Association, Athanasios Exadaktylos, interpreted the percentages saying that in local communities, people are “tied” to their hospital.

According to the survey, citizens see the cost of health services increasing by 65.1%. In their path to the health system, they first choose private practices for their treatment at a rate of 40.6% and then hospitals at a rate of 31.6%, while NHS doctors follow, the health centers, choosing the private clinics at a rate of only 3.4%.

Those who choose the private sector are satisfied by 84.3% with both private doctors and private clinics.

66.2% of respondents have registered for a personal doctor, although around 43% view the relevant arrangement negatively.

Doctors

Accordingly, doctors negatively evaluate their working conditions in this regard, with dissatisfaction reaching 75% for doctors in the public health sector and 52.2% for doctors in the private sector. The maximum dissatisfaction is recorded among young doctors, who evaluate the entire health system negatively, at a rate of 85.7%.

At the same time, doctors face the changes that have been made in recent years in the health system with skepticism, since 37.7% treat them positively and 34.9% negatively and the rest do not take a position.

Here again, however, at least half of the new doctors and public sector doctors are dissatisfied.

Doctors see their patients increasing in the last three years at a rate of 58.9%, and at the same time they see attempts to discredit the medical profession, deficiencies in the public health sector, little time for scientific information, etc. In fact, the changes in the pension system lead them to seek to work after the age of 67, at a rate of 56%.

On the occasion of the findings of the research, the management of the Panhellenic Medical Association stated that there will be ongoing actions for public health issues, with campaigns to inform the public on serious issues, while adding that it will make continuous efforts for better working conditions for doctors who serve in the public and private sectors and the consequent improvement of medical services in Greek society.