Expectant mums turned away after ultrasound breaks down

PREGNANT women in Limassol will not be receiving sufficient medical care nor can their doctors take responsibility for their healthcare following the breakdown of the gynecology department’s ultrasound machine, a senior government doctor warned yesterday.

Dr Stavros Stavrou, head of the government doctors’ union, said the service offered to pregnant women at Limassol hospital’s gynecology department was “insufficient and dangerous”. Because of this he said “doctors cannot take responsibility” for their patients.

Stavrou was speaking to the Sunday Mail following the breakdown of the department’s ultrasound machine last Thursday resulting in doctors being forced to turn away a reported 70 expectant mothers. Due to the problem a large portion of women had to make an appointment with private doctors to undergo their scheduled ultrasound, for which they have been reassured reimbursement by the state. Other women showed up at Larnaca hospital on Friday where the Limassol doctor is seconded for the day.

Stavrou said the department was not in jeopardy of shutting down, but that it could not give complete services to pregnant women.

“Ultrasounds are used to see how the pregnancy is developing and without one you can’t give the correct service and it’s dangerous,” he said.

The outspoken unionist said this was not a new problem and that Limassol hospital was not the only state hospital with outdated equipment. He said Larnaca and Nicosia’s Makarios hospital also had similar problems with their ultrasound machines.

“I don’t know why there is a delay with the purchase of new equipment. I think it has been approved and why they have not moved forward and bought it I don’t know. I don’t know who this delay is serving but it’s certainly not the doctors or the patients,” he said.

According to Phileleftheros the ultrasound machine at Limassol hospital was manufactured in 1993 and did not offer the functions that more up-to-date equipment does. The Greek language daily said the machine had been inspected by a government technician last week who determined that the spare parts that had to be purchased to repair the machine would cost more than the value of the ultrasound itself.

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