“Now honestly, do you imagine Greece being ruled by Konstantopoulou?”
“The YOU it is today in the best condition it has ever been. It’s getting better, the situation is obviously not perfect,” said the health minister Adonis Georgiadis, closing his discussion funding bill, which was approved, by majority, by the plenary.
“We have brought a bill that deals with chronic sectoral issues in the world of Health, it also deals with patients’ issues. Another fundraising bill will follow because we have pending issues. This is not a bill for nihilistic criticism,” said Mr. Georgiadis.
The reality of the NHS is not what the opposition claims, said Mr. Georgiadis and expressed the belief that the citizens recognize the steps that have been taken. “If you say that the NHS is collapsing, that the hospitals are not working, and the other person goes and finds an appointment, he understands that this criticism is leveling. If all you do is discredit everything that is done, in the end you lose your credibility,” he said, addressing the opposition parties.
The Minister of Health acknowledged the deficiencies – deficiencies in the islands, deficiencies in the infrastructure – but, as he pointed out, too much is being made. “You have constructive criticism to give. But not leveling,” noted Mr. Georgiadis and added that line 1566, for which the opposition discounted failure, makes 25,000 appointments a day. “You can’t be against something that makes people’s lives easier. It’s not possible”said the Minister of Health.
The Deputy Minister of Health Irini Agapidakis said that the provisions of the bill facilitate many functions of Health. Mrs. Agapidaki, for her area of responsibility, pointed out that equal treatment of the doctors of TOMY and Mental Health Units is being promoted, so that they too can carry out private work. He also referred to the access of health visitors to the National Immunization Registry, which, while in their professional duties, had not been given access for a number of years, in order to register the vaccines they administer. At the same time, he pointed out that with the bill it is possible to better staff the reference centers for AIDS and the possibility to extend the possibility for citizens to register with a personal doctor, before the automatic matching proceeds. He also noted that the bill includes regulations for home nursing, so that there is greater transparency and control, but also for university health centers that “will provide upgraded health services” and “will train armies of young doctors much better in prevention.”
“Realistic and necessary arrangements”
The parliamentarians of the coalition pointed out that today the National Health System has the largest number of employees since its establishment, with 7% more doctors, 11% more nurses, 10% more other staff. The vigilance system was reformed, electronic patient tracking was established and the TEPs were strengthened. They also said that with the single list of surgeries and free afternoon surgeries, delays have been reduced, while the National Health System’s biggest infrastructure upgrade program is progressing with new hospitals, new wards, new medical equipment and a new fleet of ambulances.
“Citizens see the difference in their daily lives. Fewer waits in the emergency room, better organization, greater speed of service,” said the ND deputies and emphasized that the provisions of the Ministry of Health bill are realistic and necessary, they are common sense regulations that address problems, such as the regulations aimed at supporting and better managing the staff, doctors who serve in public health units, through and by providing incentives to stay in the system.
“They still have a lot to do, but the leaps that have been made in recent years, in health and prevention, must also be recognized,” said the ND MPs and emphasized that everything said today, by the opposition, about the state of the National Health Service, “they are far from reality”.
“Rusfetia”
The government continues on the path of systematically deconstructing the public nature of the NHS, said the opposition, which although recognized that there are regulations that move in a positive direction and will vote for them, accused the health minister of submitting a “Rusfetological” draft law with a number of clientelistic arrangements. For example, the opposition complains that “photographic provisions” have been included in the bill, with which:
– an extension of the length of stay of NHS doctors after the age of 67 is foreseen, with a provision for the extension of the term of office of trade unionists. It is article 57 “Extension of the time of stay in the service of doctors of the National Health System and Public Health doctors of the National Health System, for the exercise of clinical and laboratory duties for the years 2026 and 2027”, for which the opposition complains that the provision concerns the “well-known health TV personality” (as described by a member of parliament) Mr. Peacock.
-Sanctions are abolished for medical associations that do not update the information of the national register of doctors in a timely manner (Article 12- “Electronic interconnection of medical associations”). The opposition complains that the provision concerns Mr. Patoulis.
– With article 102 – “Regulation for the non-profit foundation with the name “PUBLIC BENEFIT FOUNDATION ERRIKOS DYNAN LEGAL ENTITY OF PRIVATE LAW” and the association “HELENIKOS ERYTHROS STAVROS” , “is established unobtrusively in the administrations of institutions such as the EES and the “Errikos Dunan and those who managed public and donated funds are exempted from criminal and civil liability. The provision concerns the president of the Hellenic Red Cross who is being prosecuted for a felony, for inaccurate tax declaration for debts of Erricos Dunan to the State,” the opposition complained.
New cycle of confrontation
The president of Freedom of Navigation Zoe Konstantopoulou spoke about the debate scheduled for today on the change of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, complaining that the government “wants an empty Parliament, wants a silenced Parliament” and brings an amendment with a special photographic provision of her to impose a restriction on her right to speak and her speaking time. Ms. Konstantopoulou also mentioned that Mr. Georgiadis is an imitator of Goebbels and commented on the warning he had given her, a little earlier, that she would sue her if she called him that again. “You are an imitator, one of the worst imitators, of Goebbels. And sue me, sue me, and do flips. You know from somersaults. We saw what you said about Mr. Mitsotakis and now you are licking him”, said the president of Plefsis Eleftheria. He also characterized what the Minister of Health said against her earlier as “obscenity and sexism of a manipulative kind”.
He also called on the government to answer if, in yesterday’s parade, a sound and video system had been installed at the site of the Unknown Soldier. Responding to what Mr. Georgiadis said about her stop in Tempi, Ms. Konstantopoulou said that it is a shameful lie that she has cursed the driver of the commercial train. “What I said is that he was a volunteer in the office of Mr. Mitsotakis and that is the absolute truth,” he said and called on the Minister of Health to answer from which he assumes that “the xyloli have fallen” (s.s. Mr. Georgiadis had mentioned this earlier).
Regarding the fatal traffic accident outside the Parliament, the president of Plefsis Eleftherias commented that today Mr. Georgiadis said that Mrs. Bakoyannis was sitting in the back seat. “Parliament hid the video. It wasn’t a wrong steering wheel, as you said. The car made a sharp turn and Jason was killed. Never, until today, was the video that the Parliament’s cameras had, never was the video shown showing who got out of that car”, said Ms. Konstantopoulou and observed that the same tactic of covering up and supporting those involved was followed in the traffic accident even though a young child lost his life, “it is the modus operandi that was also applied in the Tempi crime, by its perpetrators”.
Responding to the president of Plefsis Eleftherias, the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis called Mrs. Konstantopoulou a “liar”. “Mrs. Konstantopoulou said that she has never insulted a dead person from Tempi and has never spoken obscenely against a dead person from Tempi. On February 21, 2025, here in the Parliament, he claimed that the train driver who lost his life and who did the smuggling was a volunteer in the office of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. It was a mess. The next day, the TRAINOSE train drivers’ association came out, their official association issued a statement, in which they denounced a vile and vulgar attack by Mrs. Konstantopoulou”, said the minister and read the relevant announcement, in which it is stated that Mrs. Konstantopoulou defames the memory of train drivers at the altar of the vote, without any evidence. “To understand how much of a liar she is,” continued Mr. Georgiadis and added that “this vulgar subject insulted the memory of the deceased”, that she is a woman “without morals and without sensitivity”.
The Minister of Health also commented on what he said earlier, the parliamentary representative of PASOK, Pavlos Christidis. “I like Mr. Christidis very much. Decent colleague. He stood up and defended Zoe Konstantopoulou. But are you doing well? Really, are you okay? Do you think PASOK won with this? Come Christ and Virgin Mary! You go from blunder to blunder. You want to stay out of Parliament, there is no other explanation. Every day you will do something to annoy your constituents. Unbelievable”, commented Mr. Georgiadis.
In relation to the traffic accident, the minister said: “Indeed, I mentioned that Mrs. Bakoyannis was sitting in the back seat. I didn’t know that. Mrs. Bakoyannis took me and told me ‘you know I was in the Parliament at that time, I wasn’t even in the car’. I didn’t know that. All this conspiracy theory, what’s the point? Wasn’t there a trial for this accident? It’s done. Was there no judgment, final? Was the driver convicted, with the maximum penalty provided by the criminal code for manslaughter, in a car accident? Didn’t he refuse to appeal? He refused. What else does Mrs. Konstantopoulou want and is she constantly insulting Mrs. Bakoyannis, for this matter? And the conspiracy theory begins. Because in everything he has to find a conspiracy. He can’t live like normal people.”
While the Minister of Health was expressing the opinion that the difference between the leftists and the rightists is that the leftists see everything black and negative, in contrast to the rightists who see the positive every time, a comment from the opposition benches (s.o. off the microphone), provoked the reaction of Mr. Georgiadis. “Ma’am don’t move. I lost my parents at the age of 17 and came to absolute poverty. I don’t expect you to teach me. I’ve been working since I was fifteen. You will not teach me a lesson here! Where, let’s say, you were unemployed, Zoi picked you up. Ok; Leave it to me! You won’t make fun of me. You don’t know what everyone has done in their life. What I have done at night. All the books I have carried you will not have seen in your sleep“, said the Minister of Health.
Mr. Georgiadis also commented on the statement of the President of Plevsis Eleftheria, about the assumption of power. “I heard Mrs. Konstantopoulou say ‘when we get down to business’. Now honestly, can you imagine Greece being ruled by Konstantopoulou? He would be a huge gulag, he would put prison bars all around, he would be a national prosecutor and in the end he would put me in jail! But seriously, can anyone imagine Mrs. Konstantopoulou ruling Greece? Not even like a nightmare, on the street with poplars, one could imagine something like this!”, said Mr. Georgiadis.