Doctors call for Limassol neonatal unit upgrade

By Annette Chrysostomou

THE Cyprus medical association advocates the upgrade of the neonatal care unit at Limassol general hospital, a change that is also being mooted by the Health ministry.

The upgrade to level II-B is to ensure that the unit has the capacity to provide mechanical ventilation and facilitate interim hospitalisation, the association said in an announcement.

The proposed move is based on a 2012 study which recommends that the number of beds should be increased from 10 to 15 and that five intensive care beds with respirators need to be in place.

At the moment, Makarios hospital in Nicosia is the only hospital which has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), while Limassol has a small care unit with ten beds and no ventilator. Currently, infants receive oxygen via an air bag in Limassol.

Level I, or basic neonatal care, is the minimum requirement for any facility that provides in-patient maternity care. The institution must have the personnel and equipment to perform neonatal resuscitation, evaluate healthy newborn infants and provide postnatal care.

Level II, or specialty care nurseries, in addition to providing basic care, can provide care to infants who are moderately ill with problems that are expected to resolve rapidly. This level is subdivided into two stages. Hospitals which are classified under level II-B have the capability to provide mechanical ventilation, whereas those under level II-A don’t have this capability.

Level III, or subspecialty NICUs, can care for newborn infants with extreme prematurity or who are critically ill or require surgical intervention.

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.