A gastroenteritis outbreak at Athens’ Attikon University Hospital has exposed shortcomings in basic hospital safety measures and chronic staffing shortages, hospital employees said Thursday, after at least 25 healthcare workers and dozens of patients and visitors were infected with norovirus.
The hospital workers’ union said the spread of the highly contagious virus was linked to severe overcrowding, patients being treated on hallway stretchers and insufficient nursing staff.
“How can isolation measures be implemented when dozens of patients are hospitalized in corridors without even basic infrastructure?” the union said in a statement.
The union said it had warned for years that the hospital was operating beyond capacity, with overcrowded wards and exhausted staff unable to ensure safe care conditions.
It called on health authorities to suspend new admissions during Saturday’s scheduled emergency duty shift and demanded immediate hiring of permanent staff and an end to hallway patient treatment.
