Filenews 25 November 2024
The Accident and Emergency Departments will remain open, during the 48-hour strike announced by doctors, to serve exclusively emergencies where patients' lives are threatened or endangered.
As stated in a statement by the State Health Services Organization (SHSO), the health and safety of patients remain its highest priority. During the strike, the Accident and Emergency Departments will exclusively serve emergencies where patients' lives are threatened or endangered. All scheduled outpatient appointments, daily hospitalizations for treatment, endoscopies and day care operations affected by the doctors' strike will be rescheduled.
The SHSO is making every effort to avoid the strike. At the same time, he assures that he remains committed to safety and the provision of quality care to citizens, while he is always willing for dialogue and constructive cooperation with all parties involved.
Besides, the State Health Services Organization (SHSO) and government doctors, in a last-ditch effort to avoid the 48-hour strike, agreed to meet this morning. The meeting was scheduled for 11.00 am, following a message sent by the Minister of Health, Michalis Damianos, who, although absent abroad, undertook to make another effort to avoid the strike, which is scheduled to start at 07.30 tomorrow morning.
The SHSO is expected to put on the table alternative scenarios for the conclusion of an agreement on the financial incentives of doctors for the years 2025 to 2027. For their part, the unions say they are "vertical" in their decisions and say they will only discuss the outcome of the study, carried out by the independent audit firm, on the financial incentives of doctors for the year 2023.
It is recalled that the SHSO had proposed to doctors last July a budget of €4.1 million, which doctors disputed and requested a study by an independent audit firm. The study showed an amount of only €2.5 million, which provoked the reaction of the trade unions, which are asking for an additional €2 million from what the SHSO offers them.
According to the instructions given last Friday, for public information purposes and for timely planning and management by the Ministry of Health and the private hospitals contracted with the GHS, the scheduled outpatient clinics of the Special Doctors are postponed and rescheduled under the responsibility of the SHSO and all daily hospitalizations for treatment, endoscopies and day care operations are postponed and are reprogrammed under the responsibility of the SHSO
All scheduled surgeries are postponed and only emergencies will be processed, coming from the Emergency Department or from a complication of those already hospitalized, with security personnel (on call), while noting that the Children's Accident and Emergency Department (Children's Accident and Emergency Department) will operate with security personnel.
It is also emphasized that the Accident and Emergency Departments will operate with security personnel and will examine critically ill patients in critical condition at Nicosia General Hospital and Limassol General Hospital, who need immediate evaluation and rescue interventions, while incidents of category ESI-2 ESI-3 will be transferred from the ambulance service to the Emergency Department of private hospitals in the district by the Ambulance Service under the responsibility and coordination of the Ministry of Health.
Moreover, the General Hospitals of Pafos, Larnaka, Famagusta and the District Hospitals of Troodos and Polis Chrysochous will examine patients in critical condition who need immediate evaluation and rescue interventions and critically ill patients (very serious cases), who need medical treatment and interventions soon.
In addition, patients in need of medical evaluation, diagnostic tests and therapeutic interventions will be transferred from the ambulance service to private hospitals in nearby provinces by the Ambulance Service, under the responsibility and coordination of the Ministry of Health, while the transfer of patients from other hospitals will be served only if the transfer is considered necessary for the processing of an emergency or concerns the finding of a bed for the needs of an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after consultation with the on-call specialists (security personnel).
The ICUs, NICUs and NICUs will operate with security personnel (on-call) for those already hospitalized and will receive new cases from the Emergency Departments of Public Hospitals or in cases where they cannot be treated by other providers for medical reasons, while the Trauma Center will work with security personnel (on-call), while chemotherapy and other daily hospitalizations that can be moved will be moved.
Chemotherapy treatments administered to hospitalized patients will take place, while hospitalized patients will continue to have the required medical care by security personnel. Among the instructions is the avoidance of discharges, without absolute medical indication. The 48-hour strike of public doctors is scheduled to end on November 28 at 07:30 am.
With information from CNA
