ENGLISH SECTION
21/05/2025 | 20:53
New four-digit number, ready by July 15, to provide answers to citizens on NHS queries
A new four-digit number, 1566, will go into effect by July 15 to provide answers to any question citizens have on the National Health System (NHS), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday during a visit to the Health Ministry.
He added that the number is free of charge: “It will provide yet another key assistance to citizens so they may get answers on difficult and complex issues.”
Reviewing the progress made on issues of health, Mitsotakis mentioned the timely completion of all programs funded by the Recovery Fund, as well as progress on managing medical costs and the use of digital tools to control medical and drug expenditures. “We have said that any savings in funding will return” (to citizens), the premier underlined, while noting that a real revolution was taking place in digital health, in particular with the Europe-wide Greek innovation of a patient’s single online file.
Mitsotakis also spoke of changes in doctors’ rotations and of efforts to improve waiting times for patients during hospitals’ on-call schedules. “I am satisfied that the waiting lists for surgeries have been shrinking,” he further noted, while also expressing satisfaction and saying he was moved that 2.5 million Greek citizens took advantage of preventative programs to go for health screenings. “Many were saved and found a malignancy because the state found them and urged them to be tested. Do not ignore the message you get,” the PM urged.
The premier particularly noted improvements in issues of mental health, particularly of children and teenagers, who he said are now more aware and more likely to speak up. The challenge is to provide support through NHS, Mitsotakis said, praising the work achieved at the Ministry of Health.
“We still have a lot of work ahead,” he said, yet adding that “the progress we have achieved is undeniably significant.”
As the PM noted, his visit to the Health Ministry was carried out in the context of regular meetings he has “to review the progress of introducing a new NHS, as we have committed to.”
Source: ANA – MPA
