Filenews 13 January 2026 - by Marilena Panayi
The second largest reform in the health sector, after the General Health System, the establishment of the National Center for Clinical Documentation, is "frozen", with those involved rushing to change the bill that had been submitted to the Parliament, but as it was later ascertained, it was different from the one prepared by the competent, appointed by the Council of Ministers, Coordinating Committee.
In fact, last week, the background was very intense with the bodies represented in the Coordinating Committee, including the Pancyprian Medical Association, the Pancyprian Bar Association and the Federation of Cyprus Patients' Associations, reacting strongly to the changes that had been made without even being informed themselves.
At the same time, it is worth mentioning that this bill was scheduled to be discussed in principle, last Thursday, by the parliamentary committee on Health, which, however, postponed this discussion after interventions, with the aim of preceding the meeting scheduled for the day before yesterday Sunday under the Minister of Health, Neophytos Charalambidis.
The main disagreement of the coordinating committee, which had held successive extraordinary meetings in the previous days, was the fact that based on the provisions of the bill that was finally submitted to the Parliament, the Center would not have a board of directors, it would operate as a company with the state as its sole shareholder.
At the same time, it was found that several of the provisions of the original bill had been removed, as a result of which a different text was led for discussion by the Parliament.
During Sunday's meeting and after, as it was ascertained, the Ministry of Health had followed the advice of the Legal Service by consenting to the change of the text that had been prepared and approved by the Council of Ministers, it was agreed that the Clinical Documentation Center will be registered as a state company, under the Registrar of Companies with the state as the sole shareholder, will have a board of directors in which the seven involved bodies that currently make up the coordinating body will participate committee and will have its own statute.
The responsibilities and purposes of the Center will not be altered and will be included in the legislation, however the way it operates will be incorporated into the statutes. The meeting decided that the Legal Service will proceed with the adjustment of the bill, with its discussion by the parliamentary committee on Health automatically postponed and its new submission to the Parliament set for the beginning of February.
At the same time, the coordinating committee undertook, together with the lawyer who prepared the bill, to draw up the articles of association of the company under which the Center will operate.
Given these facts, the legislative regulation of the Center, which will prepare protocols and guidelines, will control the quality of services provided to Cypriot patients and will generally monitor the operation of the Health sector, remains pending.
It is recalled that the responsibilities of the current Medicines Advisory Committee, which operates under the HIO and prepares the protocols for the integration of medicines into the General Health System, will also be transferred to the Center.
