The state health services (Okypy) appears to have shown blatant disregard for how it spends public funds, particularly by management who have booked fancy hotels and raked in plenty of overtime without any policy to regulate their spending, it emerged on Monday.

Publishing staggering figures, the audit office report for Okypy for 2022 revealed that an assistant director earned €76,379 gross per year but made €230,999 in overtime.

Similarly, a medical professional earned just shy of €60,000 but bagged an extra €137,000 in overtime pay.

Staff were shown to be making anywhere between 220 to 300 per cent more over their earnings by listing overtime.

More so, the audit office revealed “there is no approved policy on keeping to schedule or to monitor arrival and departure time from work.”

It identified multiple employees out of a sample of inspections never even scanned their cards when getting to or leaving work.

The findings also identified Okypy had increased its spending over the years, despite a drop in the number of patients.

“Actions taken by Okypy to become independent from state support have not had a substantial impact.”

Additionally, the audit office said it received a complaint over ‘hospitality spending’. The findings “indicate a culture of no respect to how public funds are spent.”

A dinner held in the summer of 2022 for 10 individuals bore a €660 expense.

In another case, a meal for seven including a former health minister and their partner, along Okypy staff came with a €609 bill.

This is despite numerous members of Okypy management reaping €297 a month for a hospitality stipend.

There is no policy to monitor hospitality spending, the audit office reported.

More so, two senior Okypy officials took an unauthorised trip to London with their hotel alone costing €2,046 for three nights.

Similarly, when the chief financial officer went to London, the hotel accommodation expenses reached €2,480 for two nights. The audit office found the bedroom was listed as a ‘superior room’ by the travel agency but when checking with the hotel, it was found the room was in fact an executive suite.

“This was not the cheapest option,” the report said.

In fact, the former health minister who travelled there with his wife paid around half for a superior room, at a cost of €1,280 also for two nights.

The report also identified a number of private clinics have been purchased – or are in the process of being bought by a company which manages a number of hospitals in Greece.

This means less competition between Okypy hospitals seeking to try and attract clients and vying to offer quality services.