Filenews 14 March 2023 - by Marilena Panayi
A circular was sent to all GHS hospitals by the Health Insurance Organization, giving instructions for reducing the surgical procedures performed that require the hospitalization of patients in an Intensive Care Unit. The ICU beds, says the HIO, are almost all and on a daily basis, occupied both in the hospitals of the SHSO and in the private hospitals of the GHS.
"The Health Insurance Organization, after finding that the occupancy of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in most hospitals contracted with the GHS is very high, calls on all contracted providers to proceed with a reduction in surgeries that require the patient to be hospitalized in ICU (after surgery) or may need to be hospitalized in ICU", says the HIO in its circular to hospitals, adding: "The assessment of these cases must be carried out on the basis of the urgent or non-urgent nature of the incident."
At the same time, he explains that this measure "aims to relieve the need for beds in the ICUs from the need to manage cases that arise as a result of scheduled surgeries, in order to be able to manage the increased emergencies observed recently". Finally, it clarifies that "the recommendations do not concern daily surgeries as long as they do not provide for the patient to remain in an Intensive Care Unit as part of the hospitalization of the case". The measure of reducing interventions will apply until April 24, 2023, "with the possibility of extension on the basis of a reassessment of the situation".
As the HIO's senior officer, Monika Kyriacou, explained to "F", "for some months now we have been observing that the number of free ICU beds both in the hospitals of the SHSO and in the private hospitals of the GHS is very limited, resulting in a risk that, if we do not take our measures, it will not be possible to treat patients in need of urgent intensive care". This, said Mrs. Kyriacou and given the fact that emergencies and emergencies are no longer referred by the Ministry of Health to hospitals outside the GHS "and these cases must be served within the GHS, led us to the decision to give the relevant directive to the hospitals of the system in order to ensure that there will always be beds free for emergencies and emergencies that arise during a twenty-four-hour period".
In the hospitals of the SHSO, as a representative of the organization told "F", "the ICUs have been experiencing increased occupancy for some time, for many reasons. Firstly, for months now we have had the infections which in many cases hit patients with other serious health problems resulting in these patients needing intensive monitoring, secondly, we have increased neurosurgical cases and thirdly, it is the flow of patients from the Accident and Emergency Departments which include serious road accidents and serious injuries arriving in our hospitals".
It is recalled that the problem with the overcrowding of ICUs, both in the public and private sector, had seen the light of day about a month ago, when the SHSO, in an effort to meet the increased needs, decided to temporarily treat intubated patients in other wards, resulting in strong reactions.
Increased beds
When asked whether the increased needs for ICU beds, which are also due to a huge extent to the fact that specialized and complex surgeries are now being performed in Cyprus, for which patients were previously referred abroad, require the creation of additional units in the GHS hospitals, the HIO's senior officer, Monika Kyriacou, indicated that "it is a fact that the data have changed, But it must be said that in recent years the number of available beds has also increased considerably." So, he said, "maybe we should first see if we're managing ICU beds properly and then look at whether we need additional beds."
PASIN: It's not always easy to save ICU beds
The hospitals, the president of the Pancyprian Association of Private Hospitals, Marios Karaiskakis, told "F", "will clearly respond to the call of the HIO. However, it must be said that it is not always easy to save ICU beds." In the ICUs, said the president of PASIN, "mainly patients who are characterized as serious cases are admitted and surgeries that require hospitalization in the ICU, are not operations that we can delay or postpone for a long time." So, he added, "what needs to be done is for each hospital to be properly planned so that it always has some or some beds available for emergencies." The issue of the availability of ICU beds, Mr. Karaiskakis concluded, "is an issue that we must look at as a whole very seriously with both the HIO and the Ministry of Health".
