Filenews 18 May 2025 - by Marilena Panagi
One in five citizens who come to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Nicosia General Hospital is not an emergency. The first month of operation of the Rapid Patient Management Clinic in the hospital actually confirms the estimates of previous years. From April 1st, when the Clinic operated until the end of last week, based on recorded data, 20% who came to the hospital's A&E were referred for rapid service since they did not face any urgent problem.
Changes in all state hospitals in terms of the provision of emergency care are promoted by the State Health Services Organization, with the institution of Rapid Patient Management Clinics being extended to all provinces. As it has already been officially announced, it is now the turn of the Paphos Hospital, where the Clinic will operate on June 2, followed by the hospitals of Limassol, Larnaca and Famagusta, in which works for the expansion of the A&E are currently in progress.
The Rapid Patient Handling Clinics operate from 2:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This specific timetable was not chosen by chance. As the spokesperson of the OCYPY, Charalambos Charilaou, explained to "F", "from the processing of the data of the A&E Departments, it was found that this is the period of time during which an increased attendance of patients is recorded, especially patients whose problem they face is not urgent".
The differences between these clinics and the on-call clinics of the General Health System, Mr. Charilaou said, are three: "First, citizens do not need to arrange appointments. They go to the A&E Department and if their problem belongs to categories 4, 5, which are not emergencies, they are referred to the Clinic without any other procedure. Secondly, the Clinics operate on a daily basis and not only on weekends and holidays, as is the case with on-call staff and thirdly, laboratory and imaging tests are carried out in the Rapid Patient Handling Clinics and thus the patient is served at the same time".
From the operation of the Clinic in Nicosia so far, said the spokesperson of the OCYPY, "we see that the effort is succeeding because you understand that when 20% of the people who come are served there and the operation of the A&E is not burdened, the benefit is great for real emergencies".
Short-term hospitalization beds in all hospitals
First Aid services in the public sector are being strengthened, in addition to the Rapid Patient Handling Clinics and short-term hospitalization beds. The goal of the OCYPY, and in this case, is the decongestion of the A&E and the faster "liberalization" of emergency beds so that patients can be served without much waiting and delay.
Short-term hospitalization beds, Mr. Charilaou explained, "are intended for patients who need, for example, a blood transfusion or serum hydration or some other short intravenous treatment. These patients will be transferred to short-term hospitalization beds and will undergo their treatment there and then return home. In this way, they will not remain in the A&E Department, the beds will be kept and other patients will be waiting".
This is "an additional measure in the effort to decongest the A&E. At the moment, the short-term hospitalization beds have been operated at the Famagusta hospital and will be followed by the rest of the hospitals in which construction works are still in progress".
Operation of children's Ambulance Service in Limassol
The Children's A&E Department at the Nicosia General Hospital received 14,500 children's visits in 2024, according to the data of the OCYPY.
"With the operation of the children's A&E Hospital, both parents and certainly our staff have been made unimaginably easier because the child does not have to go back and forth from the general hospital to Makarios for diagnosis, examinations, etc.", said Mr. Charilaou, adding that the decision has already been made that "the A&E for children will be transferred to Makarios Hospital when the construction works currently being carried out are completed".
At the same time, Mr. Charilaou said, "the Organization's plans include the operation of a corresponding department for children in the Limassol hospital."
The staffing of the A&E has been strengthened and is being strengthened
Along with the building upgrade of all A&E Departments and the simultaneous operation of "or promotion of the operation of Rapid Patient Handling Clinics and short-term hospitalization beds, the OCYPY has also proceeded with the further staffing of all Accident and Emergency Departments in state hospitals".
As can be seen, Mr. Charilaou said, "despite the fact that private A&E hospitals have also been included in the GHS, the attendance at A&E in public hospitals has not only not decreased, but at times it has increased. For example, in the winter months when we have the surge of infections and in the summer with tourism, our needs are always increased. Therefore, the Departments must be constantly properly staffed in order to be able to cope".
"Also, we must say and emphasize that complex or even more serious incidents are referred to the A&E Departments of public hospitals, which concern, for example, the elderly and are not managed by Departments of private hospitals. These incidents need more resources and more specialized services, and certainly the time spent on serving them is quite long."
In addition, Mr. Charilaou said, "we should remind you that A&E as well as all departments of state hospitals serve not only the beneficiaries of the GHS but also some other categories of people who definitely need services when they face a health problem".
For example, he added, "all migrant asylum seekers who are not beneficiaries of the GHS, European citizens and certainly tourists during the summer months are served. Therefore, the proper staffing of the A&E is a very important element for their effectiveness. As OCYPY, we cannot make exceptions to which incident we will serve and which we will not".
(Mr. Charilaou's references were made in the context of an interview published in today's issue of Insider magazine, which is published together with "F").
