The Deputy Minister of National Defence Mr Giannis Kefalogiannis declared yesterday, Thursday 28 November 2024, the commencement of the 29th Armed Forces Medical Conference, in Thessaloniki.
Mr Kefalogiannis stressed that a month ago, at the Ministerial Council, a bill was presented, in an effort to deal with a number of problems and vulnerabilities in the operation of the Armed Forces medical facilities, indicating the 11+1 proposed measures pertaining to the organisation and function of medical structures, the hierarchical progression of medical personnel and the healthcare of the Armed Forces members. At the same time, he underlined that with the promoted reforms, the political leadership proves in deed that it listens to the concerns and needs of the members of the Medical Corps, it facilitates their work, it gives motives and it encourages them to keep going regarding the execution of their national mission.
The Chief of HNDGS General Dimitrios Choupis, the Chief of HAGS Lieutenant General Georgios Kostidis and the Commanding General of the 3rd Army Corps Lieutenant General Athanasios Garinis and the President of the 29th Armed Forces Medical Conference, Director of HNDGS/MED DIR Major General Dimitrios Kasimos attended the event.
Other attendees were the Deputy Minister of the Interior Mr Kostas Gioulekas, the Mayor of Thessaloniki Mr Stelios Aggeloudis, a representative of the Church as well as active and retired Medical Officers.
In his address, the Deputy Minister of National Defence, stated, among other things:
“With particular pleasure I declare the commencement of the 29th Armed Forces Medical Conference, here, in the heart of our Macedonia, Thessaloniki, the city which constitutes the birthplace of the Medical Corps. You know better than anybody, the significance of the mission and the great strength of support which the Medical Corps provides in the Armed Forces. Furthermore, the members which constitute the Corps have a unique particularity. They have to combine scientific knowledge with operational expertise, but also with the art of command. The military leadership of the modern armies looks forward to the officers of the Medical Corps and especially the doctors, to provide their scientific knowledge, to command personnel and structures and manage particular and often very hard situations in operations’ period. At the same time, they have the critical mission, in peacetime, of caring for the effective medical treatment of the Armed Forces members, mainly safeguarding their health and secondly their combativeness. So it is an obligation of the state, through the political leadership of the Ministry of National Defence, to support, in any possible way, the work of the military doctors, so they can respond to their mission, to the maximum level.
You know that the Armed Forces are in an modernisation trajectory, so they can respond to the lessons learned from the modern battlefields. During this modernisation we cannot omit the military medical facilities and the members of the Medical Corps, since they constitute a pivotal parameter of every organised strategic planning and every successful mission. Also, we will have to be sincere, with regards to the diagnosis of the problems and the dysfunctions of the medical facilities, but also daring when dealing with them. A month ago, we presented to the Ministerial Council, with the Minister of National Defence Mr Dendias, a bill, in an effort to deal with a number of problems but also vulnerabilities in the operation of medical facilities and, especially, of the Armed Forces military hospitals – vulnerabilities which pertain to their organisation and operation, as well as the management of their medical workforce. I have to underline, from the beginning, that the resolution of problems has become obligatory, since the consequences from the lack of actions already mirror the quality of provided services to thousands of Armed Forces members and their families.
The designation of vulnerabilities and bringing them to the surface, are actions which delineate the package of counter-measures which will have to be taken. With the Minister of National Defence Mr Dendias, we presented a total of 11+1 measures which are structured into three axes, meaning the organisation and operation of medical facilities, the hierarchical progression of the medical personnel and the healthcare of the Armed Forces members. With the proposed reforms, the military hospitals acquire financial autonomy which secures stability in their revenue from the General Staffs’ budget, on the basis of priced medical services to the Armed Forces members. Furthermore, their own resources are institutionally safeguarded from commercial utilisation and the revenue from the National Organisation for Healthcare Services Provision (EOPYY), which are exclusively meant for the development of their infrastructures, the improvement of their operation and of the medical personnel revenue. In cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and EOPYY, we have moved forward to the regulation of the payment of all the debts to the Military Hospitals and the Army Equity Fund Hospital (NIMTS) for a three-year horizon, while the issue of the steady flow of the new debts’ payment has already been regulated. The military hospitals also acquire the capability to self-fund their function, attracting new resources of their own, through the provision of new services, like the all-day long function, with the standards of the National Health System (ESY). Furthermore, procedures are established for joint procurement of medical material, for the saving of resources and the decrease of bureaucracy, the joint use of medical services by the Armed Force members, the joint planning in the development of infrastructures, their joint staffing, whenever required, while quality indexes are established for the provided medical services, in cooperation with the Quality Assurance Organisation for Health. Moreover, for the better management of emergencies and the pre-hospital care at the field units, the Medical Corps will be reinforced, in the following years, through the recruitment of a critical number of Professional Soldiers with the specialty of “Medic”.
With regards to the members of the Medical Corps, the following changes are being carried out: The time at command posts in field units, for military doctors, is decreased to a maximum of two years, from a minimum of three years, as it stands today. At the same time, the command duties will be able to be exercised within the military hospitals too. The time required for the commencement of military doctors’ specialty is decreased to 2½ years from 5, as it stands today. Pertaining to particular short-staffed specialties, the time required for commencement will be zero. Meaning that, doctors will begin their specialty immediately after their graduation from the Academy. The exercise of command and acquisition of corresponding experience, from now on will be given to all medical specialties, while today is only held by doctors. This will free the special doctors from command duties, allowing their return to military hospitals. We establish the refund of military doctors’ shifts and the refund of the nurses’ night shift, through the utilisation of own resources of military hospitals, without any extra burden for the state budget. Furthermore, we expand the opportunity for exercising scientific work, out of the service, to the other specialties of the medical personnel.
With regards to the medical treatment of our Armed Forces members, we aim, firstly, to the improvement of provided services, secondly, to their expansion and the provision of new ones. Especially, we move forward with the drastic simplification of control and authorisation procedures of the members and their families’ medical expenses, resulting in their rapid, if not immediate, refund. Furthermore, part of new type of expenses will start being refunded, as for example, that of assisted reproduction. Moreover, the members of the Armed Forces are able to conduct paraclinical exams in private diagnostic centres, paying a percentage corresponding to the share stipulated by EOPYY. The members are able to receive prescriptions by private doctors selected by them, as is the case for all the Greek citizens. We establish remote evaluation by military medical committees, without obligatory physical presence, for the quicker service of healthcare recipients. From now on, people will be able to be treated at a military hospital of another Service from the one they serve in, if that is deemed necessary for their recuperation. The travel expenses of the members who have been scheduled to undergo surgery at a military hospital of another garrison from the one they serve in, will be covered. Arrangements have also been made for military pharmacies shifts, for the timely service of the members and home delivery of high cost medicines, to members unable to accommodate themselves. Finally, the operation of new services and care is established, for the members and their families, such as: Foundation of a Unit for the Treatment of War Trauma and corresponding Joint War Trauma Training Centre, establishment of Elderly Care Unit for the Armed Forces veterans, operation of a Dentist’s office for the disabled, with an anaesthesiologist present. Finally, special care will be provided for the disabled family members of the Armed Forces personnel, when they are minors, with the expansion and upgrade of the existing Special Childcare Centre to Centre for Children with Developmental Disorders, as well as when they are adults, with the creation of the Assisted Living Facilities for the Disabled.
I believe that the reform for the operation of the medical facilities and the modernisation of the hierarchical progression and duties of the military doctors is today more necessary than ever. With the aforementioned changes, the political leadership listens to the concerns and needs of the members of the Medical Corps, it facilitates their work, it gives motives and it encourages them to keep going regarding the execution of their national mission. I believe that it is worth daring, worth insisting on its materialisation, not matter how long it takes”.