Georgiadis' open confrontation with EOPYY doctors

Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis opened a new front with EOPYY doctors after the warning given Thursday morning that he has a “plan B” that the strikers of the organisation will not like and that he is not going to let ‘anyone think they can blackmail the State.’

EOPYY doctors federation vice president Yannis Chronopoulos spoke a few hours later on Sky TV responding to the minister that doctors are not threatened and blackmailed and that they have a “plan C”.

Chronopoulos also accused Georgiadis that ‘he is hiring scab specialties that he wants to eliminate from Primary Care,’ talking about an indicative hiring of a plastic surgeon in Thessaloniki on Wednesday.

Georgiadis said earlier Thursday that he is not prepared to keep people whom he does not need ‘because then I'll have to cut pensions and this I believe is unethical.’ He added that he is ready for dialogue and discussion of the restructuring plan of Primary Care.

Referring to the minister’s comment the EOPYY vice president replied that ‘now he wants to dismiss 3,000 of us,’ attributing the possibility of layoffs in the plans of the ministries of Finance and Administrative Reform. For the invitation to dialogue, he said that they have already made a lot of contacts, but Georgiadis' ‘attitude changes every so often,’ resulting in ‘one discussion being unrelated the other.’

Doctors say they are ready for a series of strikes they have announced until December 3, to protest the plan of the Health Ministry.