Shortages in neonatal unit

THE UNIT dealing with newborns at Makarios Hospital in Nicosia is desperately overcrowded and understaffed due to an increase in the number of premature babies, said head of the hospital’s paediatric unit, Dr Andreas Hadjidemetriou yesterday.

The doctor warned that the Neonatal Intensive Therapy Unit at the hospital had huge problems with a scarcity of beds, staff and equipment. Four newborns have already had to be moved to another unit, he added.

Hadjidemetriou explained the shortages to an increase in premature births, mainly due to the increase in multiple pregnancies.

“The needs unfortunately outweigh the maximum that we have to offer these children and it’s a question of space, equipment and staff,” he said.

Hadjidemetriou expressed hope that the Health Ministry approved the budget to cover the needs of the unit, noting that despite a capacity of 36 newborns, the unit currently had 42, while often this number rises to 50 and 55.

“We are trying to meet the demands as much as we can because as you know, we don’t have the luxury to say the unit only fits 36 babies and the rest have to go elsewhere. There is nowhere else to go.”

He noted that the problems of the under pressure unit heightened in the summer when staff take summer leave, while demands become even greater. The doctor voiced his concerns at an event at the hospital where the Lions Club Nicosia-Kyrenia donated €6,000 worth of equipment to the unit.

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