Lamia: 12 fewer doctors at the hospital

The Union of Hospital Doctors of Lamia released detailed figures on Thursday 20 August on the staffing of Lamia General Hospital, disputing the government’s narrative about the National Health System. According to the announcement, in 2019 the hospital had 109 permanent and auxiliary doctors plus one working on a fee-for-service basis, a total of 110. In July 2026 the permanent and auxiliary doctors have fallen to 91 and the private doctors working with the hospital have risen to seven, giving a total of 98. That is twelve doctors fewer in seven years, at a time when the hospital’s current establishment provides for 163 posts. “The ESY is in the best state it has ever been in. That narrative certainly does not hold for Lamia General Hospital,” the union says.

The figures by clinic are more revealing than the overall total. The Pulmonology clinic today has one ESY doctor, against six in 2019. Paediatrics has one ESY doctor and one auxiliary, against six in 2019. The Emergency Department has two ESY doctors and four private doctors covering some shifts, against nine doctors seven years ago. Urology operates with only two private doctors, while Oncology has one ESY doctor and one associate who attends once a week. The Internal Medicine clinic operates in practice with four doctors and an occupancy rate exceeding one hundred percent. The union rejects the argument that recruitment calls go unfilled, noting that financial incentives are not enough without safety and decent working conditions.

The question of afternoon operating theatres, which the Health Ministry presents as a success, occupies a particular place in the announcement. The union calculates that in the period from November 2024 to June 2026, that is over a year and a half, 207 such operations were carried out. It counters with the proposal to run one additional operating theatre during morning hours, which requires one anaesthetist and two to three nurses and would deliver, by its calculations, around 720 operations a year, at no cost to the patient. The argument is that the same spending on staff produces a far greater result if it is directed towards permanent hiring rather than paid overtime.

The union places the hospital’s situation in a wider context, citing the figures in the European Commission’s State of Health in the EU report. Total health spending in Greece corresponds to 8.4 percent of GDP against 10.0 percent in the European Union, per capita spending is 2,191 euros against 3,832 euros, while the public share of health spending was only 61 percent in 2023, the second lowest in the Union. Patients’ out-of-pocket payments reach around 40 percent, double the European average, and 21.9 percent of the population report unmet health needs against 3.6 percent in the Union. The demands it puts forward include mass hiring, the inclusion of doctors in the arduous and unhealthy occupations scheme and an increase in the health budget, at a time when the question of public sector pay is in the spotlight following the Council of State ruling on holiday bonuses for civil servants. No response from the Health Ministry to the union’s allegations has been made public.