At the Maroussi health centre, in the northern suburbs of Athens, more than 120 people have turned up despite the bad weather, in the hope of getting medical attention. "I was supposed to see the orthopaedic specialist for my hip," Katerina, 72, says. "But my doctor's not seeing patients so I'm queueing for another appointment."

The 118 medics at the centre began their strike action on 25 November. They have joined almost 90% of the 6,000 doctors across Greece who belong to national health agency Eopyy. They are protesting against the decision by the health minister, Adonis Georgiadis, to suspend a large number of Eopyy doctors.

Under its mobility scheme, the government is committed to suspending 25,000 public-sector workers on partial pay by the end of the year and making 4,000 redundant. Those affected receive 75% of their usual wages for eight months, then are either re-allocated or dismissed. Eopyy must accept its share of the burden. It was set up during the reorganisation of the public health system in 2012 and now manages about 250 health centres across Greece.

The Maroussi centre provides a wide range of healthcare. "It's a feature of the Greek system," says its head, Costas Chroneos. "We have a lot of specialists, and people are used to seeing the relevant consultant at one of our centres."

The minister aims to reform this process, in the hope of reducing the €1.2bn ($1.6bn) in debt Eopyy has accumulated. To do so, he plans to only keep the general practitioners, dentists and paediatricians. For everything else patients will have to go to a hospital.

"Our patients are the most vulnerable in Greek society. They are pensioners and low-paid wage-earners, whose income has dropped by 35% to 50% since the start of the crisis," says Chroneos. "They can't afford private treatment, not even the [€25] cost of hospital admission [...] They will simply stop getting treatment."

George Patoulis, head of the Athens Medical Association, agrees: "Making a clear cut in primary care will overload the hospitals, which are in increasingly poor condition, after a 40% budget reduction since 2009. A two-tier system is already taking shape."

The minister started by rejecting the strikers' demands outright but on 3 December proposed to put the matter of suspensions on hold for a month, provided doctors went straight back to work.

This story appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde