Day 3 SAMS Global Response

The day started with an early morning exercise session run by the field coordinator. It's done Monday, Wednesday and Friday, to help maintain the physical and mental well being of volunteers. Alongside this there is a weekly welfare meeting where volunteers can raise issues about the work, and any problems and pressures they may be experiencing.

We did half an hour of intense cardio exercise then went off to breakfast and the morning briefing.

After the briefing we headed back to Iliadis, now with a Syrian doctor with us as part of the team. Mohammed (not his real name) is a recently arrived refugee from Syria. He had been living in Eastern Syria, but ISIS tyrannical rule had forced him to leave with his family.

Mohammed had been working as a volunteer in various projects in Athens supporting refugees there with medical care, until he was recruited by SAMS to work in the camps in Northern Greece.

Day 2 SAMS Global Response: Iliadis Camp

Day 2 SAMS Global Response

Every morning there is a briefing for all the volunteers. Any issues at the camps are discussed, updates are given about relations with the health service and local government and plans made for the days ahead.

Last week there were threats made to medical staff in two of the camps, and a man even drew a knife (albeit a very blunt one) on them in one incident. The field coordinator has now drawn up some security protocols for us to follow in the event of threats of violence, and made signs saying knives aren't allowed near the clinic.

I've been assigned to Iliadis camp. It's in a warehouse on the outskirts of Thessaloniki. It's much like the other camps, rows of tents in and outside the building for people to live in. There are signs of more infrastructure; lots of covers providing shade, and rows of sinks with running water. Toilets are still just portaloos, and I didn't see showering or bathing facilities.

Day 1 SAMS Global Response: Arrival

Arrived in Thessaloniki. SAMS Global Response is staying in a hotel just outside the city, near the government camps.

I arrived too late to join any of the clinics, so instead helped out with the day to day admin. The medical and field coordinators are trying to keep accurate records of all the patients who are treated. Finding a system which isn't time consuming and can be quickly taught to new volunteers isn't easy.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying to get excel and Google spreadsheets to communicate, and working out the best way to teach people how to use them. Not very exciting, but necessary.

BMA: No more concessions, escalate the action

Following the successful all-out strike on 26th and 27th April, the BMA and DOH have entered negotiations for 5 days, under pressure from the Royal Colleges who asked that they both "paused" their stances and talked without preconditions.

While the talks may be a welcome sign that the pressure of regular and escalating strike action is finally forcing movement from the DOH, without serious concessions there are no grounds currently for demobilising the strike.

While the DOH narrative has been of doctors unwilling to negotiate, the fact is the Junior Doctors have gone out of their way accommodate the DOH. They have made a number of significant concessions, with the main redline being extra payments for Saturday shifts, and the discrimination against women that will result from the contract.

The Junior Doctors even sat outside the DOH for days leading up to the strike practically begging Jeremy Hunt for talks. This became a propaganda coup as Hunt's refusal to talk with the doctors - despite them sitting outside his office for 12 hours a day - made him appear even more unreasonable and singleminded to the public.

Idomeni Diary: Day 5

Idomeni diary day 5

On the final day we met in the morning to discuss how we were going to organise the days activities. The medical volunteers had been joined by some new teams, more paramedics from Norway, medical students from Germany and the rest of the Jordanian-American medical relief team. There was a long discussion of how to divide up the work, and what was feasible given the logistical resources available. The group was split into three teams, one team would cover the Idomeni camp in the morning, while the other would cover Eko camp in the morning, and a third do Eko again in the evening.

We headed into Polykastro to drop off medications and other supplies the new volunteers had brought with them, and pick up supplies for the morning clinic. I joined the team heading up to Idomeni camp.

We set up clinic in the same spot, and were joined by a few of the translators from the previous day, and some new faces. Adel from the Eastern Ghouta came to help, as well as a young guy called Deyar, a teenage Kurd from Qamishli. Both were extremely helpful. Deyar was extremely proficient, switching easily between english, arabic and kurdish to make sure the patients fully understood what we asked, and the treatments that we were giving them.

Idomeni Diary: Day 4

Day 4 at Idomeni

I joined a group of volunteer medics organised by Offtrack Health, a grassroots clinic set up by medics who wanted to quickly deploy to crisis areas. It's run from Britain, but has become an organising pole for all the volunteer medics and healthcare professionals coming to the camp.

New people come and go all the time, at present its a couple of British docs, German paramedics from Leipzeig who had been working in a refugee camp there, Swedish paramedics from Skane, an American medical relief group, a Norwegian medical relief group, and various administrative volunteers and translators.

They've rented a house in Polikastro which they are housing volunteers in, and the basement serves as a warehouse for medicines and equipment. We collected supplies from there then, and picked up one of the volunteer translators, Sherin, and drove up to Idomeni. Sherin is a Palestinian, from a town near Haifa, who came to Greece several months back to help translate for the volunteer relief efforts.

When we arrived the police would only allow one vehicle into the camp so we had to put all the equipment in one van and take that inside.

Idomeni Diary: Day 3

Day 3 at Idomeni - March 18th

Tried to do the food distribution in the morning, but we were delayed outside the camp; a government minister was visiting and no one else was allowed in until they left, also cleaning firms were going around with trucks emptying the portaloos and bins and we were held up for an hour and a half. We scouted around for other distribution points outside the camp, including around the old train station where lots of people camped, but none were suitable.

Eventually we were allowed in and set up on the far side of the camp. Few groups distribute on this side, so the need is greater. Due to the fact we were delayed by the time we started distributing most people had gone to get food elsewhere, or brought it from some of the private businesses which set up just outside the camp. We distributed 1000 meal packs then decided to go elsewhere as the queue was petering out.