Filenews 6 November 2025 - by Marilena Panayi
A few dozen public doctors are in danger of being left out of the General Health System, who even received a relevant warning due to the non-submission of their licenses to practice their profession to the Health Insurance Organization. The non-submission of licenses, however, is not a formal procedural issue but a statement of protest, since these doctors claim that they do not have such an obligation as they themselves are not contracted with the Health Insurance Organization, but are registered in the GHS by the State Health Services Organization to which they work as seconded civil servants.
However, the entanglement with the licenses of public doctors does not end here. With the recent amendment of the "Doctors Law", all doctors in Cyprus have the obligation to present a certain number of training units in order to ensure the necessary renewal.
However, at a time when the law now includes such a provision, OKYPY, as public doctors told "F", is proceeding with a reduction in funds related to education, asking the various clinics to limit the time in which their doctors are absent on educational leave and to move the educational absences within the amount granted to them.
The doctors even referred to a retrospective rejection of requests they had submitted within 2025 for their participation in educational conferences, expressing strong concern about the fact that with this practice, they may not be able to collect the educational units they need to request the renewal of their license from the Pancyprian Medical Association, as provided for by law.
Again, however, the confusion does not end here, since the problem, according to the doctors, still exists with their professional insurance.
Again, after the amendment of the "Doctors Law", doctors, for the purpose of renewing the license to practice the profession, are obliged to submit their valid professional insurance.
As is well known, after many disagreements, controversies public and not only, the State Health Services Organization proceeded to conclude an insurance contract for all doctors in the public sector.
However, the largest group of public doctors, being civil servants seconded to OKYPY, claim their coverage by the Legal Service, as is the case for all civil servants in cases of legal proceedings. This disagreement between doctors, OKYPY and the Ministry of Health had also led to measures being taken by the unions in previous years.
Some of them, in fact, ask whether group insurance can cover them for the purposes of renewing their license to practice by the Pancyprian Medical Association and ask for legal clarifications from OKYPY.
The specific issues, as we are informed, have already been officially raised by the Pancyprian Guild of Government Doctors to the Organization whose final position they are waiting for.
The protests of the doctors were conveyed by "F" to the president of PASYKI, Sotiris Koumas, who stated that the Guild is officially waiting for the answers from OKYPY, stressing that "we first of all find that there are legislative gaps on some of the issues and for some others we note with regret that the Organization has taken decisions that are not in line with the legislation and recent amendments. But we will wait and depending on the answers we receive, we will act in the immediate future. For us, there are also some issues of principle and we have certainly raised them many times in the dialogue with the Organization without receiving, so far, answers that satisfy us. The fact for PASYKI is that there are gaps in the legislation, other issues have arisen now after the amendment of the law on doctors and certainly for all this we will wait to get answers with the hope that finally OKYPY will understand the problem and we will proceed to find definitive solutions."
