AKEL supports the creation of a single public National Ambulance Service
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 14th April 2021, Nicosia
Today AKEL Parliamentary Representative Giorgos Loucaides and the Head of the Health Affairs Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL Athos Georgiou, had a meeting with the head of the Ambulance Service Riana Konstantinou, during which a review was made on the important work performed by the Service, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The AKEL delegation was briefed on the need for three new ambulance stations to operate in remote areas, which will help deal more effectively with all the incidents throughout the country.
The discussion focused on the need for a draft bill to be submitted immediately by the relevant Ministry which should provide for the organization and operation of the Ambulance Service as a National Rescue Agency. Its organization and operation should be ensured based on a legislative framework that safeguards its continuous upgrading as the sole regulator of emergency pre-hospital health care, which will not depend on the profit motive or other interests and that will be devote itself to fulfilling its role, namely in saving lives. The required structures should be provided for immediate response and support of emergencies in a comprehensive and continuous manner, improving the immediate and long-term outcome of incidents and include emergency pre-hospital health care and the Emergency Ambulance Coordination Centre with a separate budget under the supervision of the Health Ministry.
It should be recalled that since February 2020 the Parliamentary Committee on Health Affairs unanimously agreed that the executive power should proceed to a substantive consultation with all sides and include in the draft bill the converging positions of the involved parties and MP’s for the creation of a National Ambulance Service that would include all the relevant services, based on the model of the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAV) in Greece.
The AKEL Parliamentary Representative in a letter in October 2020 on this issue, had requested to be briefed on the date of the revised draft bill’s submission in Parliament, without unfortunately having received any reply so far.
AKEL will immediately request once again another briefing from the Minister of Health, reiterating that the creation of a unified single service will contribute to the qualitive upgrading and more effective provision of emergency health care to the benefit of patients and the injured and in general to the benefit of public health. At the same time, AKEL stresses that the public character of the new body is not negotiable.
