Following a complaint, a team of NTA Auditors-Inspectors of the Thessaloniki Regional Directorate, during the period 2018 - 2021, carried out an audit at a General Hospital of the Central Macedonia Region regarding the operation of the Hospital's Hematology Clinic and the investigation of the legality of fees paid to the Clinic's employees by pharmaceutical companies.
The Clinic provided specialized and important health care to patients and produced high quality scientific work, while at the same time its members were paid for their participation in many clinical trials and received honorary payments from pharmaceutical companies as invited speakers or as participants in expert committees, according to the relevant circulars of the Hellenic Organisation for Animal Health (EOF) and the relevant legislation.
The audit found that:
- During the years 2014 - 2018, in some cases, physicians of the Clinic a) violated the provisions on the maximum salary ceilings for the National Health System (NHS) physicians and b) made corresponding signatures of inaccurate responsible statements on the compliance with the above salary ceilings, in violation of Law 1599/1986.
In this way, the above doctors received amounts of money to which they were not entitled, which, for the period 2014 - 2018, ranged in total, for each doctor, from approximately 10,000 to 70,000 euros. The amounts paid came from private funds (additional fees from the Special Account for Research and Development Funds / ELKEA) and from public funds (additional fees from on-call duties).
The relevant hospital departments did not check the doctors for compliance with the provisions on the maximum remuneration ceilings for NHS doctors. Furthermore, the competent services of the Hospital did not inform the Court of Auditors, thereby depriving it of the possibility of control.
- In addition to the above, it was also found that the participation times of three (3) doctors in clinical trials, as planned and approved by the Scientific Council of the Hospital, were so long that, if the approved clinical trials had proceeded according to the initial planning, these scientists would have been almost not engaged in their main work, calling into question the requirement of full and exclusive employment of NHS doctors under Law No. 1397/1983.
The NTA's Audit Report was forwarded :
a) to the Ministry of Health with a recommendation to carry out audits of a representative sample of hospitals in the country for exceeding the maximum salary limits of NHS physicians,
b) to the relevant Health Region of Greece with a recommendation to improve the mechanism for controlling the overpayment of NHS physicians and for disciplinary action against the physicians and administrative officials involved,
c) to the Hospital Administration with a recommendation for the imposition of a practical maximum cumulative time limit for the participation of employees in clinical trials in a way that will ensure the smooth operation of the Hospital; and
d) to the Athens Appeals Prosecutor's Office for criminal evaluation.