2024-01-08 17:43:29
Editorial RoomCurrent Affairs
Ioannina Member of Parliament of the KKE Nikos Exarchos characterizes the conditions of care for children in Epirus as precarious, as the pediatric clinics in the hospitals of Preveza and Filiaton operate marginally, due to the lack of permanent qualified pediatricians and the expiration of the contracts of adjuncts.
As he states in his current question to the Minister of Health, some on-calls are covered by pediatricians from the respective Health Centers, thus weakening these health units, while in Arta there are no doctors with other necessary specializations for children, with the result that the majority of children, who need specialized pediatric care, from all the above hospitals, to be transferred to Ioannina, PGNI or “Hatzikosta” Hospital.
But, as he notes, the “Hatzikosta” Pediatric Clinic, which is on duty half the days of the month, has a serious shortage of qualified pediatricians, as currently only three permanent staff are serving, one assistant who will be leaving and one pediatrician assigned to the Department of Mediterranean Anemia. This results in most children, who need specialized intervention, being transferred to the PGNI the next day.
Mr. Exarchos also focuses on the lack of Children’s ICUs, due to the absence of an established group of pediatric surgeons-pediatric anesthesiologists, which forces parents to travel even for medium-sized surgeries to other major cities of the country. “The lack of a Children’s ICU increases the risks for the health and life of children, since valuable time is lost in multiple movements. Even the PGNI has only one pediatric neurologist, one pediatric cardiologist, one pediatric surgeon, as a result of which not all days of the month are covered on call. Finally, the pediatric clinic of the PGNI has serious shortages in nursing staff for the safe supervision and care of all children, while the pediatric TEP clinic is located at a distance of more than 100 meters from the TEP area, as a result of which children are often intubated and in the corridor”, he characteristically points out.
Finally, he mentions that many Health Centers do not have a pediatrician, citing as an example the K.Y. Ioannina, where only one pediatrician and two others work in TOMY. In fact, K.Y. Ioannina is not on duty 24 hours a day and does not operate on the weekend, due to the movement of doctors from the laboratory sector to hospitals in Epirus.
The Member of Parliament of Ioannina of the KKE asks the minister what measures the government intends to take for the recruitment of all the necessary, permanent, full-time and exclusive employment medical and nursing staff for the smooth and safe operation of all Pediatric clinics in the public hospitals and Health Centers of Epirus , the recruitment of all necessary permanent pediatricians and other staff in the Health Centers of Epirus and ensuring 24/7 operation of the Health Centers, in order to fully cover the needs of Primary Health Care, as well as for the safe vigilance of the pediatric clinic of the Hospital “Hatzikosta” and its staffing with the necessary specializations, given its participation in the reception of transports of serious cases sent by the EKEPY, the activation of the pediatric surgery room and the pediatric orthopedic unit with all their equipment in the 4th building of the PGNI, the creation and operation of the Children’s ICU and the inclusion of the pediatric TEP in the TEP area and not in a remote location.
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