Filenews 28 December 2020 - by Marilena Panagi
In the outstanding aspects of the General Health System, community nursing, since despite the fact that these services have been integrated into the System since 1 December and general nursing and mental health nurses, have for the most part proceeded to register with the System, in practice, the beneficiaries of the GHS are not yet able to receive the services they need.
This is because the Health Insurance Agency and the State Health Services Agency, which owns 80% of community nursing nurses, have not yet signed an agreement between them to start providing these services in practice to citizens in need of specialist care in their homes.
Of course, as reported by "F" information, the matter will end within the next few days after the CSP has sent the final proposal put before it by the OSU to its legal advisers and is awaiting their comments to be made.
At the same time, and irrespective of the consultation between the two semi-state agencies, the negotiation between the OAC and the bodies representing the nurses is still pending. Objections and protests appear to be recorded with regard to the amount of pay that nurses will receive for the services they will offer, but also for the permitted number of visits that each citizen will be entitled to under the GHS.
However, given the fact that the majority of community nursing nurses belong to the CSP, these outstanding issues will not have a major impact on the start of the provision of these services by the General Health System, immediately after the signing of the relevant agreement.
With the conclusion of the dialogue, of course, and the settlement of all outstanding issues, there will also be the possibility of integrating private nurses into the System.
In essence, these services are considered to be among the most important additions to the GHS since they will fill a huge gap that existed until now in the field of Health and affected a large proportion of citizens who were not beneficiaries of free health care by the State.
General nursing nurses, according to the PLANNING of the NHS, will provide home services to chronic and inclined patients, while mental health nurses will offer their services both in their patients' homes and in their own space, if possible.
In order to have access to nursing services, the beneficiaries of the GHS will ensure a complaint from a staff or a specialist doctor, in the case of general nursing and from specific medical specialties in the case of mental health nursing.
The number of visits that each citizen will be entitled to per year will be determined and a supplement of €6 will be paid for each visit.
In the nursing services of the GHS, the midwife services will then be added, which will provide pregnant women with information and information about their future parental role, help in the psychosomatic preparation of the woman for normal childbirth, advise on proper nutrition and prepare for breast-feeding. They will also be watching the woman at her home during the lotion. Women's access to midwifery services, although still not completely clear on the scene, will probably be done directly and without the issuance of a complaint by a doctor. However, in this case too, the number of visits a woman will be entitled to through the GHS will be determined. Information from "F" indicates that depending on the service provided the number of visits will range from 3 to 7 per year and again with the payment of a supplement of €6 per visit. Relevant announcements on midwife services are expected to be made by the OSO in the next period.
(In all cases the "ceilings" apply to the supplements applicable to all services of the GHS).
Care for each case
With regard to general nursing services, access will be made, 'upon referral by staff or a specialist doctor of the GHS and will be provided to beneficiaries registered by their personal doctors as 'inclined'. ('Inclined' beneficiary is the one who, due to identified serious health problems, is unable to move and is required as his health care services are provided at home).
• In-patient discharges for general nursing services will also be issued in the context of the patient's inpatient care when he is discharged from the hospital.
• Beneficiaries, if they obtain a complaint, will select the nurse who wants to provide them with home services from the list of general nursing nurses participating in the GHS and proceed to arrange a meeting with him.
The GHS will cover a specific maximum number of visits which, as we are informed, will range from 1 to 12 (per year), depending on the patient's needs, while in cases where it is considered that the patient needs further care there will be the possibility of increasing the number of visits covered by the System, upon request by the attending physician and approval by the OAC. For the maximum number of visits covered by the System, the beneficiary will be informed by the doctor who will refer to home general nursing services.
With a complaint from specific specialties
Mental health nurses will provide outpatient services including support and treatment, at individual and group level and home services.
Access to out-of-hospital mental health nursing services will be made upon referral by specific medical specialties. These specialties include: Psychiatry, child psychiatry, neurology and pediatric neurology while paediatricians who participate in the GHS as specialist doctors will also have the right to issue a complaint.
• Mental health nurses will also be referred to the same medical specialties in the context of inpatient care when discharged from the hospital.
• Beneficiaries, if they obtain a complaint, will choose the mental health nurse from whom they wish to receive services from the list of mental health nurses participating in the GHS and proceed to arrange a meeting with him.
It is noted that the GHS will cover a specific maximum number of mental health nursing sessions, per beneficiary, per year. For the maximum number of visits covered by the System, the beneficiary will be informed by the doctor issuing the relevant reference.
