Private diagnostic centres on indefinite strike
strike
10 Jun 2019
/ 11:28
Neither patients insured at the National Health Care System EOPYY nor those with private insurance can have tests in the private centres. The strike has the support of the Panhellenic Medical Society.
From today private diagnostic centres and labs nationwide will remain closed indefinitely. At the centre of the disagreement is the so-called “clawback policy” - the amount of money the private diagnostic centres and medical laboratories have to return to the state - and rebates imposed on them by the Ministry of Health which they claim make the operation of the centres almost impossible.
Physiotherapists have also suspended services for EOPYY patients until Wednesday 12 June, also in protest at the clawback and rebate measures which have cost physiotherapist 125,000,000 € since 2013.
A meeting with the chairman of EOPYY ended in a stalemate as they didn't receive the 55m Euros they requested in order not to go ahead with the strike. The representatives from the Diagnostic Centres and Medical Laboratories thus announced that they will go ahead with the strike from 10 June for an indefinite period during which time either patients insured at the National Health Care System EOPYY nor those with private insurance will be able to undergo tests.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Andrea Xanthos has invited the representatives for an emergency meeting on Tuesday 11 June in an attempt to have the strike called off which it is thought will be damaging to the goverment with the General Election coming up.
The Ministry says that some of the 55m Euros demanded by the Centres can be made available but this remains to be seen at Tuesday's meeting.
Statement from the Panhellenic Medical Society
"The Panhellenic Medical Society would like to express its complete support the action being taken by the Medical Diagnostic Centres and Medical Laboratories Associations in protest against the ongoing cuts, the price undercutting for examinations, the clawbacks and the rebates which have seriously undermined the centres and labs, dramatically downgraded the work of the doctors and depriving patients of the necessary medical examinations.
The Panhellenic Medical Society supports the laboratory doctors completely and calls on the medical community and social welfare organisations to support their fight in any way they can."
Source: News247
Physiotherapists have also suspended services for EOPYY patients until Wednesday 12 June, also in protest at the clawback and rebate measures which have cost physiotherapist 125,000,000 € since 2013.
A meeting with the chairman of EOPYY ended in a stalemate as they didn't receive the 55m Euros they requested in order not to go ahead with the strike. The representatives from the Diagnostic Centres and Medical Laboratories thus announced that they will go ahead with the strike from 10 June for an indefinite period during which time either patients insured at the National Health Care System EOPYY nor those with private insurance will be able to undergo tests.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Andrea Xanthos has invited the representatives for an emergency meeting on Tuesday 11 June in an attempt to have the strike called off which it is thought will be damaging to the goverment with the General Election coming up.
The Ministry says that some of the 55m Euros demanded by the Centres can be made available but this remains to be seen at Tuesday's meeting.
Statement from the Panhellenic Medical Society
"The Panhellenic Medical Society would like to express its complete support the action being taken by the Medical Diagnostic Centres and Medical Laboratories Associations in protest against the ongoing cuts, the price undercutting for examinations, the clawbacks and the rebates which have seriously undermined the centres and labs, dramatically downgraded the work of the doctors and depriving patients of the necessary medical examinations.
The Panhellenic Medical Society supports the laboratory doctors completely and calls on the medical community and social welfare organisations to support their fight in any way they can."
Source: News247
