A patient made an appointment with a doctor for a health problem he was facing. His condition has confined him to the wheelchair, despite the fact that with help and support he can stand.
He was surprised, however, to find, when he arrived at the doctor's office for his appointment, that the doctor was on the 2nd floor of an apartment building.
With a lot of effort and support, he got up from the wheelchair and entered the elevator which did not have the dimensions it should have in order to allow the entry of a wheelchair.
But his adventure did not end there. When he had to visit a radiology center, he was faced with the same problem. This time, in order to be able to use the elevator, he had to dismantle his wheelchair and specifically remove the footrests in order to ensure access to the services he needed.
"We are not talking about exceptions but about a situation that we often encounter but it seems that no one listens to our voice," the president of the Cyprus Paraplegic Organization, Dimitris Lambrianidis, told "F". "Along with the inaccessible elevators, there was no parking space for people with disabilities in either of the two premises, which made it even more difficult for the patient to move."
Mr. Lambrianidis stressed that the patient visited the doctor's office without knowing beforehand that the elevator was not suitable for his wheelchair.
"Fortunately, he could stand with help and entered the elevator without the wheelchair, with all the dangers this created," he stressed.
At the radiology center, "again the same problem and both of these cases show in practice the additional difficulties faced by patients with mobility disabilities even for an ordinary visit to a doctor."
Rejecting the argument that "patients can simply choose other, accessible clinics", the president of OPAK pointed out that "a person may have visited a specific doctor before acquiring a disability and wish to continue because he trusts him. In this particular case, the patient did not know in advance either that there was no suitable parking space, or that the elevators were so small. If he did not manage to reach the doctor, he would have to leave and schedule a new appointment at another center, for another date. Why should we force people with disabilities to go through the process of asking in advance whether a health service structure is accessible? Why do we think that only people with disabilities face accessibility problems? A person who underwent surgery may be in the same condition.
Access to health services must be equal for all."
Continuing, he wondered "why does the HIO not implement the relevant provisions of the GHS law and the recommendations made three years ago by the Commissioner for Administration?".
"Many elderly people who cannot walk long distances or even short distances, it is not only the group of people with disabilities who suffer and in some cases are humiliated." And on parking spaces: "The absence of parking spaces is particularly serious. Where will the person transporting a patient with mobility difficulties leave the car to help him get off, enter the building and reach a doctor's office? They put us in procedures that the able-bodied do not have and do well and do not have them. The challenge in a modern state and a modern health system is that even people with mobility problems do not have them."
Continuing, he wondered "why does the HIO not implement the relevant provisions of the GHS law and the recommendations made three years ago by the Commissioner for Administration?".
"Many elderly people who cannot walk long distances or even short distances, it is not only the group of people with disabilities who suffer and in some cases are humiliated." And on parking spaces: "The absence of parking spaces is particularly serious. Where will the person transporting a patient with mobility difficulties leave the car to help him get off, enter the building and reach a doctor's office? They put us in procedures that the able-bodied do not have and do well and do not have them. The challenge in a modern state and a modern health system is that even people with mobility problems do not have them."
