Filenews 13 September 2024 - by Marilena Panayi
The Parliamentary Committee on Health is called upon to operate with organization and speed in the coming months, since several of the bills, which have been pending for years and concern serious issues in the Health sector, have either already been submitted to Parliament for voting or are at a very advanced stage and are expected to be submitted within the next two months.
First in line are the two bills concerning the establishment and operation in Cyprus of the institution of the Patient Ombudsman. These are two amending bills, one of which introduces into the law on patients' rights provisions concerning the operation and responsibilities of the Ombudsman and the second changes the law governing the operation of the GHS and provides for the transfer of the responsibilities of the Commissioner for Supervision to the Ministry of Health and the Patient Ombudsman.
As the chairman of the Health Committee, Efthymios Diplaros, said yesterday, the two bills, after following the procedures of the Parliament, will be discussed without delay. As we are told, the first session on the two bills will be set for October 10.
However, at least five other bills are close to being submitted to Parliament. The bill concerning the operation of palliative care centres in Cyprus has already passed the public consultation process and the Ministry of Health is in the process of finalising it before putting it before the Legal Service for legislative scrutiny.
In addition, the bill that provides for the operation of rehabilitation centers in Cyprus is already in the Legal Service, while at the end of the week the public consultation on two more bills ends.
The first concerns the operation and licensing of radiodiagnostic centres and the second provides for the criteria to be met by surgeries and dental practices. If everything goes according to the planning of the Ministry of Health, all four of these bills (palliative care centers, rehabilitation centers, operation of clinics and dental clinics and radiodiagnostic centers) will reach Parliament no later than November.
A fifth bill, which is described by several stakeholders in the health sector as the most important, is one step away from public consultation. This is an amendment to the existing law on private hospitals and its transformation into the law on hospitals. The aim of the bill, inter alia, is to operate all hospitals in Cyprus (public and private) under the same Law, since until today the private sector operates with different criteria and requirements than the hospitals of the State Health Services Organization. The bill, we are informed, will be submitted to public consultation within 15 days.
Two other bills are being processed by the Ministry of Health, which, upon completion and submission to Parliament, will certainly cause intense debates and probably disagreements. One bill concerns the operation of ambulances and the second the establishment of University Clinics. As we are informed, at least for the University clinics, the Minister of Health Michalis Damianos has already formed his opinion and is ready, regardless of the agreement or not between the parties involved, to proceed without further delay. The bill should be expected to be tabled in Parliament before the end of the year.
