Doctors to stage one-day strikeBy Athena Karsera

GOVERNMENT doctors will stage a 24-hour strike on November 20 and with the threat of more to come, it was announced yesterday.

The decision follows a demonstration outside the House of Representatives and a four-hour stoppage from 11 to 3 pm on Thursday.

Union of Government Doctors President Dr Stavros Stavrou told the Cyprus Mail the decision to stage a one-day strike was taken because the union believes there is no longer any room for discussion.

He says that the health sector is full of problems and the government has refused to discuss the difficulties state doctors have faced for years.

Dr Stavrou said patients would not be in danger during the strikes as teams of doctors will be selected to treat hospital patients, casualty and emergency cases.

If the strike action does go ahead as planned, no rural health centres will be in operation because their doctors will be joining the selected teams who will be working.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.