The pool of personal doctors in Greece is gradually but steadily filling, aiming for adequate and free healthcare for the population. A few weeks before the deadline for mandatory, automatic registration of all Greeks in the personal doctor system—three years after the establishment of the personal doctor role—the number of registered doctors has significantly increased, creating cautious optimism for achieving the target.

The goal is to provide all citizens with free access to a doctor for every health issue, including health care, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and guidance on serious health problems. However, approximately 4 million citizens are still without the free healthcare coverage offered by the system, with the majority located in Attica.

Since last November, when the “Reform of the Personal Doctor System” was voted on, the Ministry of Health has been working intensely to increase the number of new doctors in the system (by expanding categories to include residents and rural doctors) to meet the needs of the entire population. It is a challenging race, with obstacles, and the finish line is set for June when automatic registration of citizens will take place.

70 Doctors Left, 2,000 Added

“In the past three months, almost 2,000 additional personal doctors have been added to the system. The total number of available personal doctors now stands at 5,496. In comparison, in 2024, there were 3,545 personal doctors, of whom 2,214 were from the NHS, while the remaining were private doctors contracted with EOPYY,” says Deputy Minister of Health, Irini Agapidaki.

Out of the total number of personal doctors, 2,761 are general practitioners and internists from the NHS, health centers, and Local Health Units (TOMY). However, it is worth noting that the number of personal doctors in this category is decreasing. According to publicly available data on the prosopikos.gov.gr page, by last November, there were 2,831 general practitioners and internists in the public health system, meaning 70 doctors have retired or left.

In many cases, according to official complaints, citizens were not notified about the departure of their personal doctors and only learned they were unprotected when they needed medical services and appointments. This backlog remains for thousands of citizens who were the responsibility of the departed 70 doctors until the automatic registration process takes effect.

The number of private general practitioners and internists who have joined the personal doctor system stands at 1,379, an increase of just 12 compared to the 1,367 private doctors available last November.

It is evident that the inclusion of private doctors into the system is happening gradually. Furthermore, the option to include doctors who do not need a contract with EOPYY but are paid privately by citizens did not yield any results.

In many cases, private doctors, seeing with skepticism the Ministry of Health’s efforts to match citizens with personal doctors, have made it clear to patients they have been seeing for years that they will continue to care for them but do not want to be listed as their personal doctors. As they explain, they do not have full clarity on how they will be taxed or how their visits will be counted if they join the system, so they prefer to continue their independent private practice.

The main source of new personal doctors has been from the network of specialized general/family medicine residents and mandatory rural doctors. Since last December, the system for mandatory personal doctors has been operational, lasting one year and applying even to urban areas—previously, it applied only to semi-urban and rural areas. A total of 1,356 personal doctors from this category have strengthened the system so far.

Citizen Registrations
According to Agapidaki, “In 2025, more than 250,000 citizens have registered in the system, and new registrations are continuously occurring.” As data from THEMA reveals, the current total of registered citizens is 5,115,264, with 3,756,402 citizens still unregistered. However, this figure is expected to change with the automatic registration of the population in the coming two months.

Citizens who have not registered with a personal doctor by the end of June will be automatically enrolled based on their registered residence details in the AMKA system, with the available personal doctor from their municipality or a neighboring one.

“The automatic registration aims to ensure universal coverage of the population and strengthen Primary Healthcare. Citizens will retain the right to change their doctor after automatic enrollment once within 12 months and twice within 12 months if they change regions,” the Minister clarified. She also emphasized that before automatic registration, citizens will have the opportunity to choose their personal doctor for free.

Personal Pediatricians
Last November, the position of the personal pediatrician was established. Each pediatrician can register up to 1,500 children and receive a monthly payment of approximately 4,000 euros.

According to Ministry data, all pediatricians in Primary Healthcare have joined the system, totaling 187, while another 43 pediatricians who have contracted with EOPYY are providing free services to children. These 230 personal pediatricians currently cover 345,000 children. The Ministry of Health’s final goal is to cover 500,000 children, a number that requires an additional 100 pediatricians.