Περιφερειακές ανισότητες : η πρόσβαση των πολίτων στη δευτεροβάθμια περίθαλψη
Regional inequalities in health : citizens' access to secondary care
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Keywords
Περιφερειακές ανισότητες ; Αποκέντρωση ; COVID-19 ; Ελλάδα ; Ισότητα ; Οικονομική κρίσηAbstract
Access to health is a fundamental human right, while health is a social good. When resources and facilities are not equally distributed across a country , the result is that some highly urbanized and prosperous areas have greater access, while deprived and rural areas have limited access. This difference is known as inequalities in access. Some of the pillars of the NHS are decentralization and the development of primary care. With decentralization being the only solution to address the chronic problems of administration that plague the country. In Greece, with the existing situation (Covid-19 and the effects of the economic crisis), the National Health System reached its limits, because it was characterized by shortages in infrastructure and health personnel. As a result, some groups of the population are facing barriers to access. The main reasons were cost, waiting lists and the distancing measures taken due to covid-19 that deregulated the operation of outpatient clinics and surgeries. It is therefore necessary for the NHS to meet the needs of citizens in an equitable manner with services that offer quality, as well as to allow health regions to be self-sufficient and autonomous.
This study consists of seven chapters. The first chapter analyzes the theoretical approaches regarding the concept of regional inequalities and regional development also lists the spatial models and their challenges , and also describes the concepts of access to health services and the RAWP model on a theoretical basis. The second part deals with the economic crisis, its impact on the health system, the effects on access to citizens and the reforms voted in the midst of memoranda. Then, the problems of management in Greek hospitals are listed, the problems of human resources management as well as the steps of human resources planning are analyzed.The fourth part deals with the structure of the NHS, in this part it is analyzed what a health system is, the financing of the NHS and the characteristics of the NHS as well as a comparison of the numbers of Greece in relation to the EU. Furthermore, the regional decentralization of the NHS is also described. The fifth part will provide an assessment of the infrastructure of the NHS (doctors, CT and MRI scanners and nurses). The data on nurses, doctors and scanners relate to the public sector of the hospitals The data are unpublished and have been provided through a request from elstat. The sixth part deals with the pandemic in Greece, its influence on access and the contribution of telemedicine during the pandemic. At last, the seventh part includes the conclusions and the policies that the NHS needs to follow in order for the citizens-patients to be satisfied and at the same time the health system to be efficient and effective.