Private hospitals to provide 13,000 MRI scans

By Evie Andreou

NINE private hospitals have been recruited to serve the more than 13,000 people who are waiting for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the public health sector, Health ministry permanent secretary Christina Yiannaki said on Friday.

The ministry secured a €1.6m budget to accommodate all patients who have been waiting for months to have an MRI at the Nicosia General hospital, where the public sector’s sole MRI scanner is located.

Following complaints from patients, the ministry signed service agreements with nine private hospitals with MRI scanners of the same technology with that of the state hospital’s scanner, Yiannaki said, where patients will be referred to. The hospitals’ fees for every scan were fixed at €135, while they have also agreed on the fees for additional services that may be needed.

Costs for MRI scans in the private sector and other services that may be required like anaesthesia or additional scans, will be completely covered by the ministry, she said.

She added that with the help from the private hospitals, five in Nicosia, two in Larnaca and one each in Limassol and Paphos, waiting lists are expected to be cleared by December 10. Scans have already started since Monday.

“Each private health centre will provide its services any day according to their availability, but no later than ten days from the referral,” Yiannaki said.

In the case the service offered by a private hospital is not deemed as satisfactory, she said, the health and medical services have the right to promptly discontinue the referral of patients there.

“This measure is not a permanent solution to the problem, but was deemed necessary for the immediate and effective service of the 13,700 cases that need diagnostic tests and are on the waiting list,” Yiannaki said.

The ministry is already looking into long term solutions, she said, including the preparation of protocols that doctors need to follow before they refer a patient for an MRI scan, and avoid such a referral if it is not deemed as necessary.

The PASYDI union’s technologists and radiologists’ branch welcomed the ministry’s decision to proceed with these measures. They also pledged their willingness to help the ministry find the best practices “that will contribute to maximising the radiology department’s performance”.

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