PATIENTS at Limassol hospital are being forced to bring in their own blankets to keep warm, after one of the main laundry machines broke down before Christmas, with patients also complaining of inadequate heating on the wards.
The daughter of a patient suffering from kidney failure, who needs regular blood transfusions that last five hours each time, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that when her father went for his regular blood transfusion on Tuesday, he felt cold and asked for a blanket, but none were available.
“They could only give him a cotton sheet,” she said.
“There have been no blankets in that unit for some time now. Next time, he will bring a blanket from home.
“Imagine how difficult it is to be in that uncomfortable and painful situation and also to feel cold,” she said.
“However, it not the staff’s fault,” she insisted. “The nurses are always helpful, but there simply aren’t enough blankets.”
The hospital administration confirmed that there was a shortage of clean blankets, blaming it on a laundry machine that had broken down.
“There is a small problem with the blankets caused by technical issues with one of the laundry machines,” said Andreas Petevis, Chief Medical Officer at Limassol General Hospital. “Because one of the machines is broken, there are not enough clean blankets.”
The laundry machine, however, has been out of use since December and nothing has been done to fix or replace it yet.
“With the holidays and festive season, things slowed down a little, as you may understand,” Petevis explained.
Responding to the complaints that the heating at the hospital was inadequate, Petevis would merely say: “the heating is centrally controlled by the electricity control centre of the hospital. Heating conditions are closely monitored on a 24-hour basis.”
Meanwhile, the ultrasound at the gynaecological unit has also been broken since December, and pregnant women being monitored at the general hospital are either being forced to go private or wait for the machine to be replaced.
However, Petevis had no idea when that might happen.
“It is true that the ultrasound machine has broken and has been out of use since December. We have asked for a replacement from the Medical Services’ central office in Nicosia. As to when it will get replaced, I cannot say. It is not up to us. It is a matter that Nicosia deals with,” he explained.
