Members of state-hospital nurses’ union PASYNO who have staged an indefinite strike demanding to be acknowledged as university graduates – and paid accordingly – have rejected Health Minister GiorgosPamboridis’ proposal to break the impasse and plan to escalate measures, it was announced on Tuesday.
Pamboridis’ proposal was made to PASYNO after patients’ advocate group Pancyprian Federation of Patient Associations and Friends mediated a meeting between the two sides on Monday.
Although PASYNO reps did identify certain positive elements in the proposal, including the setting of a timeline and an open-agenda discussion, the sticking point continued to be Pamboridis’ insistence that degree recognition can only be examined as part of the procedure of making state hospitals financially and administratively autonomous, itself part of introducing a National Health System (NHS).
Nurses believe that discussing this most crucial of their demands as part of broader arrangements for hospital autonomy will only serve to push the issue onto the back burner among more pressing and significant decisions.
At the union’s district general meetings, an overwhelming majority of nurses rejected the minister’s proposal.
In a statement, PASYNO said it is “certainly willing to enter comprehensive dialogue to resolve the issues and end the strike”.
The union asked the health minister to put pen to paper, committing to the timelines he proposed at Monday’s meeting.
“But sadly, we find that the labour issues we raise are being looked at very differently by the health ministry,” PASYNO said.
“We ask that our demands are discussed before rendering state hospitals autonomous, or ensuring a parallel discussion for their resolution at the same time as discussions on the autonomy of state hospitals.”
Meanwhile, the union added, PASYNO security staff have already been pulled out of state-hospital wards where shifts are covered by non-striking nurses.
“This measure relates to the Makarios hospital, and the General Hospitals of Nicosia and Larnaca, where no serious problems have been reported,” the union said.
On Thursday, all PASYNO members will withdraw from Mental Health Services facilities and maternity wards with the exception of two midwives per shift at every hospital.
Eventually, the statement said, all PASYNO members will be phased out of hospital wards, starting Monday, when only two nurses per shift will remain in wards staffed exclusively by PASYNO members, but even these will be pulled out at a later stage.
Civil servants’ union PASYDY issued a statement on Tuesday, in which it noted that it will not allow non-striking nurses to be blamed for the repercussions of the strike, since its own members are being spread too thin and may not handle the strain.
“Meetings with all competent authorities will be held immediately in order to take measures to protect our members, as well as non-striking staff,” the union said.
“In the meantime, we call on everyone to remain proper professionals, proving our sense of responsibility.”
