Filenews 3 February 2026 - by Marilena Panayi
State hospitals have exceeded their limits due to influenza, coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory diseases. The stay of patients who are deemed to need admission for treatment to the Accident and Emergency Departments until their transfer to wards exceeds 24 hours in some cases, with the State Health Services Organization constantly making special arrangements in order to manage the situation.
As the press representative of OKYPY, Charalambos Charilaou, explained, in his statements, "we do not only have the cases of seasonal infections, we also have many cases involving diseases of the upper and lower respiratory system and these are mainly elderly people whose hospitalization is always prolonged due to other health problems they face".
If, said Mr. Charilaou, "in a hospital you have 130-140 beds for these cases and you need 150-160 beds, then you are definitely under a lot of pressure. The point is to be able to manage all these incidents and certainly state hospitals cannot close the door to any patient."
In the A&E, said the spokesperson of OKYPY "there is indeed a lot of pressure and we are also operating the Rapid Service Clinics, which accept a large number of patients and thus relieve the First Aid Departments".
However, he noted, "when a patient is deemed necessary to remain in hospitalization and is admitted to the hospital, due to the difficulty in issuing discharges, since as we said our cases remain in hospitalization for a long time, there is also a delay in his transfer to a ward and this delay can reach or even exceed, sometimes, 24 hours."
Commenting on the references of the nurses' unions to the non-approval by the Parliament of the Organization's budget for 2026, as a result of which it is not possible to hire additional staff, Mr. Charilaou clarified that "it is not a matter of staff at the moment, it is a matter of overcrowding of the wards. In other words, the approval of the budget would not solve the problem at this time."
