BBC — The European Court of Justice says Greece is in breach of EU law by allowing doctors to work long hours without adequate rest. Ten Greek medical associations were backed by the European Commission when they filed a complaint with the EU’s top court.
The ECJ ruled in their favour against Greece.
The ECJ said Greek law violated the EU Working Time Directive, which stipulates that:
- Average weekly working time cannot exceed 48 hours
- All workers are entitled to minimum rest of 11 consecutive hours in each 24-hour period
- Workers should also have 24 hours’ minimum uninterrupted rest in each seven-day period, as well as 11 hours’ daily rest.
The ruling also criticised the Greek practice of postponing the 24-hour rest period for a week after the end of a doctor’s on-call period.
The working time rules do not apply to the private sector – but most Greeks use the public healthcare system.
The economic think-tank OECD says Greece has the lowest number of nurses per 1,000 population in Europe.
A European Parliament report documents the degradation of Greek healthcare as a result of major budget cuts due to the EU bailout rules. There was a 25% slash in healthcare spending from 2008-2012, hence the Greek healthcare is understaffed and short of 2,500 doctors and other medical staff according to the Greek government and even more according to medical associations.
