Filenews 15 September 2022
The practice of the medical profession by people who may not have a degree recognized by KYSATS, or by people who declared as a specialty other than the one indicated in their degree, was discussed today by the Parliamentary Committee on Health, which was informed that investigations are being carried out on about 50 cases of doctors, in order to determine whether their qualifications correspond to reality, while nine others were brought to justice.
During the meeting, various shortcomings in the legislation were identified, while the Committee was informed that about 15 cases are before the courts and are being investigated by the Police, while nine are already in court, according to what the President of the Committee and member of DISY, Efthymios Diplaros, stated. He noted that the hearing for two doctors from third countries begins soon in Limassol.
The phenomenon of non-compliance with the current legislation on the registration of doctors in the Medical Register, regarding the condition of recognition of the equivalence and correspondence of their degree by KYSATS, was raised for ex officio examination in the Committee by the MPs of DHPA, Marinos Mousiouttas and Michalis Giakoumis.
Respectively, the need to modernize and reform the legislative framework for the recognition, registration, training and reassessment of doctors was raised for ex officio examination by MPs Marinos Mousiouttas, Michalis Giakoumis, Efthymios Diplaros, Savia Orfanidou, Charalambos Pazaros, Panicos Leonidou and Chrysanthos Savvidis. The issue will be discussed again at the end of the year, when the horizon has been set for the completion of the investigations into the approximately 50 cases of doctors. The Health Committee expressed its readiness to proceed with legislative arrangements in order to eliminate the gaps that have led to the current problem, while it is awaiting the recommendations from the Pancyprian Medical Association and the Registration Council, in this direction.
In his statements after the meeting, Efthymios Diplaros noted that there are about 50 doctors who are being investigated by the Registration Council, to determine whether or not they meet the qualifications and have the degrees.
"The mechanism initiated by the Council for the Registration of Doctors, by KYSATS and by the PIS is working properly, but in the past there was no such control, hence we have investigated these 50 or so cases", and noted that the problem is mainly found in doctors with specialties from third countries, ie outside the EU.
He explained that the investigation, which is being conducted and is expected to be completed by December, concerns cases from the period 2004-2010, as well as some from the period 2010-2017, when there was no control.
"The change in information and control began only in June 2021, when it should have started earlier," Said Mr. Diplaros, welcoming, however, the fact that even late this check is being carried out, while on the positive side he recorded the fact that 15 cases are already being examined and nine have been established and are before the courts.
He concluded that changes to the existing legislation should be made very soon, after the shortcomings and omissions had been identified, and assured that the Commission is at the disposal of the competent bodies to take forward the appropriate amendments.
In his statements after the meeting of the Committee, the Member of Parliament of DHPA, Marinos Mousiouttas, as one of the rapporteurs of both issues that occupied today's debate, said that the issue was raised by the organization Medical Shield for several years now, but the investigations to identify the irregular cases began only a few months ago. As he said, the investigation revealed that, according to KYSATS, while a number of doctors were asked to take exams in order to get approval to practice, they have not done so.
''We found that there was a gap in the legislation, and that between the process of control by KYSATS and the registration and practice of the profession, there were holes that left ill-wishers circulating in society as doctors, without being what they declare", said Mr. Mousiouttas.
He also added that the investigations by the Cyprus Medical Council, with the participation of the Pancyprian Medical Association, aim to demonstrate the magnitude of the problem and to be taken to the Police, as many cases as necessary. "Health is a supreme good and one cannot fool people with false announcements on labels about their specialty, or not be qualified to practice the profession," he stressed.
In response to a journalist's question about the Commission's intentions, he said that the legislation as it stands does not enable those responsible to check what each doctor claims. "The aim is to give the authority, as well as the obligation, for the PIS to check whether the doctor is registered, in order to obtain approval to practice the profession", concluding that "we are on track to eliminate the gaps".
DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis, in his statements said that they practice the profession "doctors charlatans, in the sense that they do not have the appropriate degree or do not have the specific specialty they advertise".
He said that it was a dead period in 2004-2017, during which for a significant number of doctors it has not been confirmed whether their degree is equivalent to those required by KYSATS, while they have managed to register as doctors.
"We want to see them registered as doctors," Mr. Savvidis said, adding that the relevant investigation has begun for a month now. "We asked for the investigation to be completed before December, to have the real data in front of us, to have the exact size of the problem," he noted. He concluded that from 2017 onwards, KYSATS and the Registration Council have been doing an excellent job.
