TO many, the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre in Nicosia is seen as a pioneer in cancer treatment on the island. But even an outstanding and advanced clinic cannot always avoid the glare of attention, especially after the recent controversy over treatment of cancer patients on the island.
With the government’s decision not to provide a dedicated cancer ward at the new Nicosia General Hospital, the spotlight has focussed on the Oncology Centre, with concerns that it may not be able to take the extra strain.
Cancer activists pointed to the difficulties faced by the centre in retaining nurses, lured to public sector work, warning that beds would have to be closed if there was a drain to more lucrative public sector work.
The director of the clinic, Alecos Stamatis, admitted in an interview this week that the problem of nurse shortages on the island had had its toll on the clinic. The leakage to the public sector is a problem that not even a top class clinic can avoid, he told the Sunday Mail.
“There is a reality here to the extent that the government is paying its own nurses at a particular level if they join the public service. There was a misconception in the early years of the Oncology Centre that the staff here were being paid more than their colleagues in the public sector. That myth is now exposed as totally untrue.”
Few clinics around the world would not be envious of what the Oncology Centre possesses in terms of advanced equipment, up-to-date computer technology and infrastructure. Security, hygiene and even a separate research department, working in conjunction with other sectors in the European Union, are just some of the features boasted there.
The Centre, which has separate departments for in and out patients, offers specialist oncology units for breast cancer, cancer of the brain and central nervous system, gastrointestinal cancer, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, lymphomas and leukaemia, sarcomas, gynaecological cancer, skin cancer and urological cancer.
The Centre was born after an agreement between the government and the Bank of Cyprus Medical Foundation was signed in November 1992. Situated next to the Makarios Hospital, construction began in 1995 and the centre started its operation in September 1998.
There are currently 40 beds for inpatients, with an additional 12 beds for outpatients while the centre has a staff of 10 consultants (medical oncologists and radiation oncologists), six junior doctors, six medical physicists and engineers, two pharmacists, 12 radiographers, 58 nursing and paramedical staff, six receptionists, and 12 people for administration.
The centre insists that, “the patient comes first and that staff attitude, reception procedures and all other elements of the service to patients will all serve this aim.
“The mission of the centre is to provide a comprehensive cancer service to the people of Cyprus and the broader region. Initiatives and active participation in the prevention and diagnosis of cancer as well as research and educational programmes are an indispensable part of the mission.”
But a single oncology centre cannot cover the entire island single-handedly and Stamatis emphasised the need to stretch nationwide for cancer patients, especially those from Paphos and Limassol.
“The government is currently developing a cancer unit in Limassol. The need to meet the needs of patients from Paphos and Limassol has always been there and I think this unit at the Limassol General Hospital will go a long way towards making the life of these patients easier. A third of our radiotherapy patients come from the two districts of Limassol and Paphos and just over a quarter of our inpatients, the ones that are hospitalised here, come from these two districts.
“We know from the experiences of the Anti-cancer Association and the Association of Cancer Patients and Friends that home nursing services are much more developed in these two districts so therefore developing a unit in Limassol is going to address a very real need. Beyond that, it is up to the Ministry of Health to assess the situation and develop any additional Oncology services that they feel are required either in Nicosia or elsewhere.”
The five basic principles
1. The patient comes first. All activity, above personal preferences and/or interests, will serve this aim.
2. Uniform high standards of care for all cancer patients.
3. The patients’ care is the result of co-operation and teamwork involving the doctors, nursing, paramedical and other staff of the Centre.
4. The formation of the Site Specialization Units in which malignant diseases are treated by specific consultants so that deeper specialisation be promoted together with the undertaking of research.
5. Regulated policy for the utilisation of drugs, laboratory and imaging and diagnostic examinations. This aim is achieved with the development and adoption of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Policy Guidelines at the Centre.
