Filenews 8 April 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
The rights of patients, the rights of patients, but also the rights of the personal doctors of the General Health System.
How far do patients' rights go and where do doctors' rights begin? Why can't the personal doctor prescribe specific medications and can't refer for specific tests? What are the usual questions of citizens and what do the personal doctors themselves say after almost six years of experience?
In 2020, when 711,000 beneficiaries were registered in the General Health System, 2.8 million visits to personal doctors were recorded. In 2024 with 819,000 beneficiaries, the number of visits showed a 39% increase and reached 3.9 million.
Citizens often turn to the HIO and ask questions that demonstrate the ignorance that characterizes the beneficiaries of the GHS regarding the services of personal doctors.
"Can personal doctors issue a referral for physiotherapy and prescribe specific medications?", "Why don't specialist doctors request a long-term referral and refer the personal doctor for a new short-term referral?", "Why can't they issue a referral for specific radiodiagnostic tests".
The Health Insurance Organization is starting a campaign to inform GHS beneficiaries about the proper use of the Personal Doctor, since, despite the fact that the System has been implemented since the summer of 2019, citizens still do not know how to properly utilize this institution, in order to facilitate their effort to secure the health services they need.
As the President of the HIO, Stavros Michael, said during a press conference, "the Organization closely monitors the operation of the institution, analyzing data on the behaviour of providers and beneficiaries and works for the continuous improvement of the quality and efficiency of services".
Important was the intervention of Charalambos Papadopoulos, president of the Federation of Patients' Associations of Cyprus, which manages the Patients' Rights Observatory.
As Mr. Papadopoulos said, "through the data of the Observatory of Patients' Rights of OSAK, it is systematically recorded that many beneficiaries do not adequately know either the role of the personal doctor, nor their rights and obligations within the framework of the GHS".
This lack of information, he said, "often leads to confusion, misuse of services and difficulties in communicating with doctors."
"This is largely a mentality that has been formed for decades, when the patient used to decide for himself which doctor to turn to, without any direction. This culture is understandable, however, in the context of a modern and organized health system, it is necessary to change. The right path starts with the Personal Doctor, who has the responsibility to guide the patient based on his real needs".
Presenting, during a press conference, the program of the citizens' information campaign, the head of the HIO's communication department, Alexia Makridou, referred to the creation of a special manual on "everything we need to know about the services of the personal doctor".
The manual, he said, was prepared on the basis of the questions of the beneficiaries themselves in order to cover their real needs.
"The manual is available in electronic form on the website of the GHS www.gesy.org.cy, in printed form at the offices of personal doctors, as it will also be sent with a message to the mobile phones of all GHS beneficiaries in the coming days".
The general director of the HIO, Iphigenia Kammitsi, said that "in the course of the almost six years since the institution's operation, significant steps have been made, always aiming at upgrading the medical care provided. Among other things, we have implemented new performance indicators and qualitative criteria in the remuneration of personal doctors, we have introduced the possibility of telephone service by personal doctors and we have implemented the emergency referral system, which ensures priority for patients in need of immediate care, enhancing the ability of the System to respond to urgent needs".
The Minister of Health, Michalis Damianos, and the presidents of all the scientific societies of the personal doctors of the GHS addressed the press conference.
