The NHS was set up to serve patients and the people and this must be the priority
AKEL meeting with the Federation of Patients Associations
20th November 2020, ‘Dialogos’ web site
The National Health Scheme (NHS) was established to serve patients and the people and this must be the priority with which we should all approach the whole issue, the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL pointed out after a meeting with a delegation from the Federation of Patients’ Associations of Cyprus, with whom they agreed that the health system and public hospitals must be supported.
The General Secretary of AKEL said that the NHS is in the initial stage of its implementation and it is natural that problems exist, which must be correctly addressed and handled. All of us, he added, must be constructive in our approaches and contribute so that the NHS becomes as strong as possible built on solid foundations, serving the people and particularly patients effectively.
AKEL is also interested in the quality and safety the services provided, as well as in relation to the monitoring of these services, which was the first issue raised by the Patient’s Federation. The protocols, A.Kyprianou said, must be observed and state health service committees must be set up to solve the existing problems.
The Federation also raised certain issues as regards legislation that will be tabled to the House of Representatives in the period ahead, which AKEL will study and take a position on, said the General Secretary of AKEL.
One of the most burning issues is the public hospitals that will constitute the health system’s backbone, but to be able to play this role effectively they need to have the necessary support, he pointed out. “I regret to note that unfortunately they didn’t receive the necessary support, and they are facing enormous difficulties and huge problems,” he said.
The General Secretary of AKEL also expressed concern that there are no separate wards for patients with Covid-19 in the reference hospital and in other hospitals “because that in itself poses a risk of the pandemic spreading.”
A.Kyprianou also expressed concern that there is no intensive care unit at the reference hospital, saying that hiring an intensive care specialist or sending intensive care specialists in rotation does not solve the problem. He went on to add that these issues need to be addressed effectively. The fact that the hospital in the Province of Famagusta operates exclusively for pandemic patients, he continued, creates many problems for other patients in this Province. “And that issue must be addressed too.”
The General Secretary of AKEL expressed the view that there should be a more comprehensive plan, stressing that AKEL since May had urged the government to use the period between the first and second wave of the pandemic to prepare itself properly on the basis of an overall plan to confront the pandemic from better foundations. AKEL had proposed, he stated, 18 measures with the first being the need for an overall plan for the operation of public hospitals in cooperation with the private ones that are part of the NHS.
All the problems must be addressed so as to give the NHS the opportunity to consolidate itself and deal with patients much more effectively, said the General Secretary of AKEL. He thanked the President of the Patients Federation and his associates for the ideas and opinions they had submitted at the meeting and assured them that AKEL will be on their side. “We want to support the health scheme. I believe that it is a reform that when and provided that it manages to be fully implemented, will be of great benefit to society “.
