Filenews 23 December 2024 - by Marilena Panayi
With seasonal infections having launched an attack and hitting indiscriminately, in the last ten days young and old and the pathological, pulmonary and paediatric departments of state hospitals being almost overcrowded on a daily basis, the Ministry of Health proceeded with emergency solutions, reserving beds in private hospitals as well of the GHS which, from today until the end of February, according to an agreement, will be obliged to pick up patients and offer them immediate service.
As the general director of the Ministry of Health Christina Giannaki told Filenews, "the aim of this decision is to decongest public hospitals and stop seeing patients waiting in the Accident and Emergency Departments for 48 hours or more until they are admitted to the wards."
"This suffering of the people must stop," said Mrs. Yiannaki and added, "we, as a Ministry, following a political decision on the part of the Minister and implementation by the General Directorate, have sent a letter to all private hospitals that can treat patients with these health problems."
''We have already received a positive response from hospitals and on a daily basis from today until February 28 they will continuously have 2-3 free beds (depending on the capacity of each hospital) in which these pathological cases, as we call them, will be treated."
In practice, he explained, "the Ambulance Service, when it receives a patient with obvious symptoms of seasonal infections, will transfer him to the hospital that will have a free bed at that time. We as a Ministry will monitor the situation and we will know at all times where there is a free bed. For this purpose, a competent employee has been appointed in each hospital who will be in contact with us."
Seasonal infections, Giannaki concluded, "are here, every year we have them and every year we see people suffering. With this arrangement, we aim to decongest public hospitals but primarily to provide timely and hassle-free patient service."
