site.btaGreek Resident Doctors Protest Over Pay and Working Conditions

Greek public hospital resident doctors protested outside the Ministry of Health on Wednesday over pay and working conditions.

The strike was organized by the Federation of Hospital Doctors’ Associations of Greece, the trade union representing physicians employed in the country’s public hospitals. In a statement, the federation said that resident doctors, medical graduates receiving postgraduate specialty training in hospitals, work under difficult conditions, for low pay, and with excessive workloads.

It said this sharply increased the risk of medical errors. The federation added that resident doctors in Greece worked an average of about 72 hours a week and received no more than four or five days off per month.

The federation also said that resident doctors were paid EUR 5.38 an hour, which the protesters described as inadequate.

Some of the placards carried by protesters during Wednesday’s demonstration said that resident doctors were underpaid and exhausted.

Local media reported that, in addition to the protest outside the ministry building, strike action also took place for several hours around midday on Wednesday in public hospitals.