Abstract
Public health services in Greece have been under persistent pressure, due to the constant fiscal crisis. Health policies related to Primary Health Care (PHC) in the country, despite long-term restructuring efforts, need to be reviewed and redefined. The aim of this study is to analyze the accessibility and satisfaction rates in Greece, as part of the health policies for the PHC of the country. We performed research for the analysis of data with respect to the accessibility to PHC and the investigated data included satisfaction, accessibility, and waiting times. Data were obtained from the European Statistical Authority (EuroStat). A literature search was performed also in the PubMed database, using as appropriate indexing words «quality indicators», «health care», «primary health care», «Greece», and «fiscal crisis». We found that, before the onset of the economic crisis (2004-2008) in Greece, the proportion of citizens unable to access the PHC structures ranged from 4% to 5.5% (2008). During the fiscal crisis period, this figure has almost doubled to 9% (2014). Similarly, the satisfaction of patients from PHC services showed a particularly downward trend. The pre-crisis rate ranged from 94.7% to 92.6% (2008), declining steadily over the crisis and dropping to just 88.8% (2013). The year 2016 appears to be a turning point, to the patterns found up to that time, where the accessibility improved. The Greek fiscal crisis has created many challenges in PHC in relation to the accessibility and satisfaction of citizens with the services provided. In conclusion, the goal of further improvement of the provided primary care services can be achieved by the Greek state through strategic planning, which will take into account the nowadays and particular socio-economic conditions.
