Adonis Georgiades: Co-operation between hospitals and large health centres

“Thanks to the electronic wristband, before a patient decides to visit an on call hospital, he will know how long the waiting time per hospital is,” underlines, among other things, Adonis Georgiades.

In particular, referring to the operation of health centers on call in hospitals, the Minister of Health stresses that “of the 100 walk-ins more than 50 could go to a health center and be served in it. We are now taking urban-type health centres and having them co-operate with the big hospitals. These are health centres with very serious technological equipment. The debate is old, but we made the decision. Hospitals and some health centres will be on call at the same time. At the health centre the walk-in patient will be served in fewer hours than in a hospital. The measure is being implemented immediately, from February.”

Also referring to the so-called “wristband“, A. Georgiades explains that “the final goal is to have an app in 2026 on our mobile phones. All patients will receive a QR code. With the wristband we will calculate their waiting times. Citizens will have access to a special app on their mobile phones. So before a patient goes to a hospital on call, they will know how long the waiting time is per hospital. In the pilot phase, only we will be seeing it, but then everyone will see it. The wristband is powered by artificial intelligence. Four pilot hospitals will implement the wristband project for waiting time on call. Patients will be able to track on-call waiting times at a hospital so that they can choose where they wish to go in order to be less inconvenienced. When there is a serious delay, there will be notification of the hospital management. In 2026 there will be an app that will inform about the waiting time in public hospitals. Patient service will be the same for everyone. No one will be left behind. With the app, the patient will know how long they will wait in each hospital. The large volume of patients are walk-ins, not those transported by ambulance.”

Referring to the reduction of waiting time, Adonis Georgiades stresses that “we are far from being one of the best countries. We are currently far behind the Nordic countries in terms of waiting time. But this will change and we will be less far from the best countries. The measures we announced yesterday will all be implemented in 2025. From Easter onwards, the reduction in waiting times in emergency departments will be noticeable for citizens, for patients.

Also, in the ICUs that we are reconstructing, there is a reception in their centre and around there are the examination rooms. Furthermore, Red Cross volunteers will help make the patient’s life more pleasant on call. To make their stay in the ICU more comfortable. Our goal is to provide care for people who are waiting.”

In response to a question about the recruitment of medical and nursing staff, the minister said, “We are recruiting 750 people. 500 people are being recruited for paramedics in collaboration with the ICRC. 250 doctors are being recruited soon. These nurses and doctors are destined for the ICUs.”

Finally, asked to comment on the cancellation of the Turkish, Turkaegean trademark, Adonis Georgiades argues that “at the outset it was not handled in the best way. This is not the fault of any minister. If we had known in advance the extent of the damage we caused to Turkey, we should have taken action from the beginning. The EU’s decision hits the Blue Homeland of the Turks hard. Velopoulos has not yet found a word for the success we have objectively achieved for the interests of the country, our homeland. Those who care so much about our national rights and our national interests have not yet found a positive word to say about our success in invalidating the trademark and destroying the Turkish narrative of the Blue Homeland.

Source: pagenews.gr