Many of the problems state hospitals face could be solved through better programming and coordination, head of the Patients and Friends association Marios Kouloumas said on Tuesday.
The group, set on visiting state hospitals to record and codify all problems so that it can present its proposals to the health ministry, visited Limassol hospital earlier in the week.
The main problems are difficulty in accessing specialist doctors as there is medical understaffing which leads to very long waiting lists, infrastructure problems and lack of basic equipment, and lack of coordination as regards referrals of patients and obtaining lab results, he said.
“The situation is unacceptable at the hospital’s Accident and Emergency department,” Kouloumas told the Cyprus Mail. As the establishment was built many years ago to accommodate far fewer patients it cannot meet today’s needs neither as regards the increased number of patients or as regards infrastructure.
He added that the procedures are such that urgent cases are left to wait more than an hour before being examined, while other patients with less severe conditions might be left waiting between 12 and 15 hours before a doctor sees them. “Even if these cases are not urgent, it might be a flu case, but still they should not be left sitting there for so many hours”.
As many patients go to the A&E departments even if their conditions are not described as urgent, he said, procedures should be in place to refer them to primary care instead of letting them wait there for so many hours.
Another problem is the shortage in specialist doctors. “We were told by a patient who wanted an ophthalmologist appointment that he got one in eight months from now,” Kouloumas said.
The hospital also lacks an MRI scanner, which means that many inpatients are referred to the Nicosia general for a scan.
He said inpatients can remain at the Limassol general hospital for many days, in some cases up to a month, until they have an MRI scan or they are examined by a specialist of the Nicosia general hospital.
“Patients end up occupying hospital beds in anticipation of their referral for an MRI scan, or examination or test results from Nicosia. We were told that a hospital bed is €300 per night. This means that an inpatient who is there for a month, will cost the state €9,000. Why not hire private services for MRI scans at €500 instead?” Kouloumas said.
But the delay in obtaining the results of lab tests is also a big problem.
“Histopathology tests for cancer are only made at Nicosia general hospital. We were told that it takes up to six months for Limassol hospital’s patients to get their results. These are cases were cancer is suspected. By then it could be too late,” Kouloumas said.
“This is a matter of better programming and coordination,” Kouloumas said.
He added that hospital hours should be extended to accommodate more patients per day and that the medical and nursing staff should be given the proper support and be utilised more effectively.
He added that the problems faced by Limassol hospital are similar to those faced by all state hospitals. After the group visits all state hospitals, he said, they will make their suggestions based on their findings and submit them to the health ministry.
