Filenews 15 July 2025 by Marilena Panagi
An ultimatum to all health service providers. Those who want to contract with the HIO and offer services through the GHS must have infrastructure and equipment to serve Persons with Disabilities, those who are contracted with the HIO in order to renew their contracts (at their expiry) must have already taken care of and meet the defined criteria and conditions.
The relevant decision has immediate effect and is pending, as the Commissioner for Administration Maria Stylianou Lottidi told "F", only the preparation of the provision that will be included in all the contracts of the Health Insurance Organization.
The fact that "from 2023 when we issued our binding recommendations until today, we are still trying to implement them and ensure that people with disabilities will not be inconvenienced and humiliated when they need health services, speaks for itself," said Ms. Lottidi, explaining that "after our last letter at the beginning of the month to the HIO and the Ministry of Health In which we reminded them of our binding recommendations, a meeting was held in which we took some very important decisions."
The complaints, "which reach our Office", said the Commissioner for Administration, "are many, while others see the light of day and concern people with disabilities, who cannot access health services, either because the providers do not have accessible facilities or because there is no special equipment for their safe and dignified service".
Since July 2023, he stressed, "a lot of time has passed and during the meeting held last week, the decision was made that from now on all health service providers must have both accessible facilities and special equipment".
The Health Insurance Organization "is currently preparing the wording of the relevant provision that will be incorporated into the new contracts of the Organization. For new providers, i.e. those who will contract with the HIO from now on, the implementation of the measure will take effect immediately. For existing providers, this provision will come into force with the renewal of their contracts."
«We must make it clear that any provider that does not have the necessary equipment will not be able to renew its contract with the HIO", underlined the Commissioner for Administration. Priority, explained Ms. Lottidi, will be given to providers whose operation is not controlled by any competent authority, such as doctors' offices.
"Providers, in this case doctors, will be given a reasonable period of time to comply, depending on the deficiencies they have. Of course, this applies to building issues.
That is, if a doctor's office or other health service provider does not have a ramp, the time it takes to construct it is one and if it does not have an elevator, it is another. So this will be done on a case-by-case basis, but in the end everyone must comply."
For armaments, the Commissioner for Administration said, "the power is immediate and all providers must have them in order to be able to serve people with disabilities". It is recalled that the occasion for the last letter of the Commissioner for Administration to the HIO and the Ministry of Health, was a new complaint concerning a person with a disability who could not be served properly and safely by a hospital in which he had been hospitalized.
Last month, however, the OSAK Patient Observatory recorded another case in which the patient, who uses a wheelchair, had to undergo an ultrasound, but the hospital to which he was referred did not have the necessary special equipment and as a result he had to be transferred to the examination bed by other people.
"It was certainly not the first incident," OSAK spokesperson Dimitris Lambrianidis told "F", stressing that "the GHS will be the greatest social reform in our country only when its services are accessible to everyone and we are glad that during the last session the Director of the HIO came with suggestions to find solutions. Everyone must understand that it is an obligation to ensure the full and safe accessibility of people with disabilities, as provided for by the GHS legislation".
For exactly two years, the Health Insurance Organization and the Ministry of Health have been exchanging letters, trying to decide which Authority is responsible for imposing the availability of all the necessary medical and other equipment so that the hospitals of Cyprus and the health service structures in general become "friendly" to people with disabilities. About two weeks ago, the Commissioner for Administration sent a new letter to the HIO and the Ministry of Health recalling her binding recommendations in 2023, asking for answers. The HIO responded on July 8 and in its letter described the correspondence it exchanged with the Ministry of Health from 2023 until today.
In its letter, the HIO states that since August 2023 it has incorporated into its contracts with the GHS health service providers a specific provision according to which: "the provider is obliged to ensure that the health care services it provides within the GHS are fully accessible to persons with disabilities and that it has the necessary equipment that makes these services accessible, in accordance with the criteria, specifications and requirements set by the Ministry of Health and announced by the Organization".
The first letter from the Ministry of Health to the HIO was sent in October 2023. The HIO responded on December 4, 2023, calling on the Ministry to provide clarifications on specific issues. In the same month, the Ministry of Health reportedly sent a letter to the Commissioner informing that there are laws implemented by Municipalities and provincial administrations, which determine what property owners must possess regarding the accessibility of people with disabilities and that the Organization must contact these bodies for better implementation of the relevant legislation. In addition, the Ministry of Health stated, among other things, that the Ministry of Labour is primarily responsible for issues of people with disabilities. On January 10, 2024, the Ministry of Health sent a letter informing, among other things, the HIO that "there are already defined accessibility criteria for persons with disabilities in laws and regulations of the Republic of Cyprus, the implementation of which does not fall within the competence of the Ministry of Health".
The HIO, in its letter to the Commissioner for Administration, also stated that "regarding medical equipment for accessibility, it has, following what followed your recommendations, been included in a series of bills prepared and promoted by the Ministry of Health for the licensing of providers' facilities (doctor's offices and dental offices, radiodiagnostic centers, recovery centers, biomedical laboratories, etc.)".
