October 10 is World Mental Health Day, and though there have been several reforms made to mental and psychiatric health services in Greece, experts point to ongoing issues.
“There are some really serious problems with our psychiatric health care system,” Michalis Yiannnakos, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers, told To Vima International Edition. “Even though the EU and our state have given so much money, we haven’t managed to meet patient needs.”
Yiannnakos critiqued the frequent hospitalization of people with psychiatric ailments in Greece, stating that 60% of admissions to acute care units are by order of the Public Prosecutor, while the average in other European countries is 5%. He said that further, 70% of patients admitted to acute care units are readmissions: “It shows there is no foresight, no procedure to follow up with outpatient care. We have many patients but no one follows them at home.” He called for more outpatient units and focus on social reintegration of patients who had been in psychiatric inpatient care.
“There are still many gaps in our mental health care services,” agreed Venetsanos Mavreas, professor of psychiatric medicine at the University of Ioannina. He cited a lack of beds, clinics, and social services.
According to Eurostat, In 2021 Greece had fewer than 75 psychiatric care beds per 100,000 inhabitants, and around 25 psychiatrists per 100,000 people.
Mavreas also told To Vima International Edition that the public mental health services that do exist are few and far between, and can thus be inaccessible for Greeks who live outside of major city centers: “We need smaller structures, and structures in the provinces.”
At the end of July, Greek parliament passed a new law on psychiatric health reform. The new law changed the management and organization of mental health services, taking the focus from local mental health services, and centralizing all public sector mental health services.
However the Panhellenic Federation of Public Hospital Workers harshly critiqued the law, saying it would lead to disorganization, privatization: “It is not the administrative and organizational model that is the system’s stumbling block but the abandonment of psychiatric reform, the under-functioning of the mental health units due to serious staff shortages and under-funding.”
Mavreas said that the law had some positive points for patients, such as the ability to view their case history in a unified file online. “But we have a long road ahead of us,” he said. “We must have a system based on statistics, based on research. We are far behind the actual needs.”
