Greek minister orders doctor removed from NHS after video shows anesthesiologist allegedly seeking €100 cash payment

The decision followed a patient-recorded video on social media, which appeared to show the doctor requesting an unofficial cash payment of around €100 for services that should be provided free of charge. the practise is known as "fakelaki" in Greek slang, meaning the small envelope with cash slipped into a doctors pocket.

 Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said his investigation identified both the hospital and the doctor within hours of the video coming to his attention.

"I abhor the practice of informal payments, which exploits people at their most vulnerable," Mr. Georgiadis wrote on X, adding that he was instructing the hospital administration to take all legal steps necessary to remove the doctor from public service.

He also issued a public apology to the patient.

In the footage, the patient is heard asking the doctor what payment is expected.

The doctor initially declines, but after a nurse leaves the room suggests an amount of approximately €100. The exchange prompted an immediate internal investigation.

The incident has renewed public focus on Greece's long-running problem of so-called "envelope payments" — unofficial cash solicited by healthcare workers in exchange for public medical services.

The practice has persisted in Greece's public health sector for decades, surviving successive government pledges to eradicate it, and is widely regarded as one of the most corrosive forms of petty corruption in the country's institutions.