Filenews 13 February 2026 - by Marilena Panayi
"That's about it. We ran out of words. There is no other option, we will go for measures even if we do not want to inconvenience patients in any way. They leave us no other choice. We needed nurses yesterday and they told us about a new study." The president of the Pancyprian Association of Private Hospitals, Marios Karaiskakis, is furious.
The lack of nurses, "is a real problem, we shout, we beg, we have held meetings, we say the same things, we give the same memos, we go to the Ministry, we go to the Parliament, nothing. We have run out of words: We had a meeting before Christmas, they were giving us promises, nothing happened, a timetable had been set, it was not kept."
In Parliament, he said speaking on state radio, "we were invited at some point to discuss a bill by the Ministry of Health to make some amendments that will help us employ foreign nurses. Nothing happened, the unions reacted and now we learn that instead of promoting solutions we will do a new study. Well, no, there is no more room for private hospitals. We operate marginally in terms of our staffing of nurses."
"Foreign nurses who finish in the nursing schools of Cyprus will drag us to the Courts of Europe. They end here, they have our degrees, they have the knowledge of the Greek language and we close the door on them because they must have a master's degree while Cypriots should not."
"That's about it. If we do not see solutions now, the next time we go public it will be to announce the taking of measures", said the president of PASIN in conclusion.
