Michalis Giannakos

Five siblings that had been removed from their parents' custody went missing from a Rio hospital, near the western port city of Patra, on Friday, after being transferred there on a prosecutor's order.

A few days before the big Easter exodus of huge numbers of visitors and with the start of the summer season looming, concern is growing over the serious shortcomings of the National Health System (ESY) units on the Greek islands. 

Medical staff shortages is the norm on popular tourist islands such as Kos, Santorini, Naxos, Corfu, Zakinthos and Tinos, to name just a few.

A 43-year-old woman, masquerading as a nurse, is accused of pilfering mobile phones, cash and bank cards from patients and their companions at Metaxa Hospital in the port Piraeus disctrict, Attica, on Sunday morning. 

An 8-year-old succumbed to streptococcus at the Aglaia Kyriakou hospital in Athens on Tuesday, a few hours after its diagnosis, as confirmed by Michalis Giannakos, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Employees on Wednesday. 

A patient who was undergoing treatment at the surgery clinic of the Attikon Hospital in western Athens committed suicide by plunging from a fourth floor window, according to announcement on Saturday by the president of the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers, Michalis Giannakos. 

Health and ambulance services on the islands are struggling to respond to increased needs with scarce capabilities in August for yet another summer. 

Mykonos, Paros, Santorini, Samos and Chios have just one ambulance operating around the clock and a second operating a few days a month. 

Shortly before the summer season, public hospital workers are reporting significant shortages in essential medical specialties in health centers and hospitals on the Greek islands. They are calling upon the next government to prioritize the staffing of these positions.

A battle royal has broken out between the government and main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras over the charges of the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers, Michalis Giannakos, that some hospital beds have been set aside for VIPs, even as other intubated COVID-19 patients are being treated outside ICUs, waiting their turn on the prioritised waiting lists.

Health Minister Thanos Plevris today filed with Supreme Court Prosecutor Vasilis Pliotas a report regarding what he views as punishable criminal acts by POEDIN (Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers) President Michalis Giannakos, who alleged that ICU beds are set aside for VIPs by circumventing the prioritised state waiting list.

The charges made by POEDIN (Panhellenic Federation of Hospital Workers) President Michalis Giannakos and the president of OENGE (Federation of Greek Hospital Doctors' Associations) Panagiotis Papanikolaou regarding ICU beds allegedly being set aside for VIPS - the wealthy, the powerful, and the well-connected - have stirred a political maelstrom.