MRI 12,000-strong waiting list to be cleared in December

By Andria Kades

THE long list of over 12,000 people waiting to get an MRI scan will be seen to by December 10, Health Minister George Pamboridis said yesterday.

“I want people to be informed that there is an agreement with another 10 private clinics across Cyprus” that will be taking in patients from the state sector he told state radio.

The list is being efficiently and speedily processed before it agreement ends on December 10 where it is expected all patients will be scanned, he said.

At the moment there is one MRI scanner at the Nicosia General Hospital and 16 at private clinics.

Work is already underway and “the list is being speedily processed with previously agreed on prices…that are much lower than the market rates.”

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 agreement between the public and private sector is expected to see to everyone’s needs.

More details will be announced on Friday.

In the meantime, Pamboridis also commented on the limited authority his post allows him to exercise under the current law when it comes to rooting out bad practices in the health sector, which has been rocked by a number of negligence cases recently. Pamporidis said he could only instigate disciplinary or administrative investigations, which do not achieve anything substantial.

“In the best case for example, we have people that go to work in a terrorist regime on a daily basis in an environment where generally no one talks about anything. These things are sad and have no room in the health sector.”

“I am sure several of my predecessors had the good will to resolve the problem,” he said but the will alone was not enough, he added.

“The state has to find a solution as investigations can take a year,” he said especially in a climate where non transparent procedures are rife.l

With good checks and controls “where people face their responsibilities immediately and cases are dealt with quickly and where as a result some people, at least as an example to others, are punished it sends out a clear message that the party needs to be over and done with,” he said.

Pamporidis, in an interview published on Sunday said he planned to engage the auditor-general and the attorney-general in helping to root out the rot in the health sector.

 

 

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.