POEDN Frustrated Over Planned Psychiatry Clinic Closings
The Greek public hospital employee's union POEDN, stated that staff may organize a drawn-out rally, if public heath sector alterations result in mental health facility operational changes.
The strike threat follows the Health Ministry's decision to close one of the nation's biggest psychiatry clinics and create a general hospital in its place, in the western Attica region of Dafni, according to Kathimerini.
The Union also stated that the Health Ministry's intention to disperse Dafni's psychiatric clinic to various general hospitals in the Athens vicinity is impractical, because they don't meet up to the standards that the Ministry determined.
POEDN confirmed that Greece's specialized psychiatric clinics are beyond capacity, and approximately 20% of its subjects are receiving healthcare in hospital psychiatric wards, which don't have the resources to offer long-term help.
The union stated, "Psychiatric and general hospitals are at 140 percent capacity in terms of the beds reserved for patients with serious mental illnesses".
POEDN further commented, "At least nine more units need to be opened immediately at the capital's general hospitals and there cannot be any closures".
