Limassol General’s only heart doctor goes on strike

THE ONLY cardiologist performing cardiac catheterisations at Limassol General Hospital went on strike yesterday, demanding that he be transferred to Nicosia General Hospital.

As a result, patients from Paphos and Limassol will now be transferred to Nicosia, causing considerable hardship to patients and their families.

Since last week, Dr Vasilios Yiannikourides had been threatening to stop performing the procedures if the Ministry of Health does not transfer him to Nicosia General Hospital, following the retirement of cardiologist Michalis Mina from the Cardiology Clinic at Nicosia General.

Yiannikourides expressed his disappointment at the prospect of the Ministry of Health signing a contract with Mina, keeping him on after his retirement.

The Ministry was left with the choice of keeping Mina in Nicosia on a contract and Yiannikourides in his post in Limassol, or transferring Yiannikourides to replace the retired cardiologist, which would leave Limassol Hospital without an experienced practitioner.

Claiming that the decision would avoid the possibility of longer patient waiting time, the Ministry signed a two year contract with Mina to remain at Nicosia General.

The move enraged Yiannikourides, who announced that he will not perform any catheterisations, until the ministry reconsidered his transfer application. Other doctors anonymously expressed their opposition to the decision to extend the retired doctor’s contract, particularly as the deal will reportedly cost the state an additional €100,000 per year.

“I applied for a transfer to Nicosia General Hospital last August – a request which the Health Ministry knew was justified.

“The minister said that they were looking to employ a cardiologist at Limassol Hospital, in order to transfer me to Nicosia,” Yiannikourides said.

Yiannikourides also implied that private interested are often behind the choice of transfers.

“I believe that finally reason and fairness will prevail, and not the various interests which in the end serve individual people and not the public interest,” he said.

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