Thessaloniki: 88 auxiliary staff posts at “Papanikolaou”

Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis announced on Tuesday 11 August the approval of eighty-eight auxiliary staff posts for the “Georgios Papanikolaou” General Hospital of Thessaloniki. The decision concerns one of the largest hospitals in northern Greece, which covers a broad range of specialisms and receives cases from across Central Macedonia. The staffing boost is directly linked to the operation of new facilities due to be handed over to the hospital in the coming period.

The bulk of the posts, fifty-three in total, is destined for the new Haematology Clinic. The building that will house it is due to be taken over, so that equipment installation and the start of operations can follow. At the same time, according to the announcement, the selection procedure for one permanent National Health System doctor’s post is being completed, while further posts for auxiliary doctors are also being added. Auxiliary staff are hired on fixed-term contracts and cover urgent staffing needs in hospital units.

In a post, the health minister said that new facilities acquire real value only when they come with the people who will run them, linking the handover of the building to securing the necessary staff. That statement reflects an issue that recurs consistently in the public health system: completing building works without matching staffing leads to delays in opening units that have already been built and equipped with public funds.

Haematology clinics are highly specialised units, since they handle the diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders, including malignancies that require prolonged hospitalisation and intensive monitoring. Running them requires not only medical staff but also specialised nursing and laboratory personnel, present around the clock in shifts. In northern Greece the number of beds available in such units is limited, which leads to waiting lists and to patients travelling to Athens.