By Annette Chrysostomou
RELIEF is on the way for over 12,000 patients who are currently on a long waiting list to use the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the Nicosia General hospital, with many being referred to the private sector.
Some patients have been waiting for months for an appointment at the hospital’s MRI department, while others don’t know when their appointment will be at all. The MRI scanner is currently the only one in the public sector in Cyprus.
Following protests, the Health ministry has held a meeting where it was decided to ask a number of private clinics to assist. According to ministry spokesperson Maria Lantidou, negotiations with several clinics are underway and more details will be announced soon when procedures have been finalised.
Asked if there is a long-term plan to combat the problem, Lantidou said that the ministry expects that this measure is going to solve the problem. She confirmed that the ministry will send all patients on the waiting list to the private clinics and will cover all the costs.
Staff at the general hospital were not entirely happy with the ministry’s plans.
“We welcome the decision by the ministry”, head of the technical branch of radiologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists Thassos Athanasiou said yesterday, “but we ask that our institution is also used to its full potential.”
Currently, he added, the only MRI in the hospital is used to a capacity of 80 or 90 per cent, but it could provide an additional 1,300 scans a year. Athanasiou pointed out that the personnel exists, but needs to work overtime.
“Studies have shown that each scan carried out in the hospital is much cheaper than what the private sector demands from the ministry. Using the hospital equipment 24 hours a day, the Cypriot citizen wins,” he noted.
In a statement, the health ministry spokeswoman called for everyone to be patient and wait for announcements in ten to twelve days.
An MRI is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to take pictures of organs and structures inside the body. In many cases, MRI gives different information about structures in the body than can be seen with an X-ray, ultrasound, or computed tomography (CT) scan.