Efforts ongoing to stop strike, doctors stick to plan

Efforts are being made to avert a doctors’ strike, scheduled for July 2 and 3, Health Minister Michalis Damianos has said.

Meanwhile, doctors in state hospitals have postponed scheduled theatre and outpatients in view of the 48-hour strike.

The health minister assured that if the doctors went ahead, a plan would be in place for patients to receive the treatment they needed.

“In any case, the aim is to avert the strike measures and avoid any inconvenience to the patients,” he added.

In a press release, the doctors’ union Pasyki said doctors would hang up their coats at 7.30am on July 2 until 7.30am on July 4, with skeleton staff tending only to emergencies from casualty or complications of inpatients.

Casualty will also be working with skeleton staff, examining patients in critical condition or who require immediate attention.

If the patient is deemed critical by the ambulance crew, then the patient will be referred to a private hospital.

All departments will operate with skeleton staff, while outpatient chemotherapy and other daily treatments will be moved to other providers.

According to Pasyki, all inpatients will continue to receive the necessary treatment and discharging patients will be avoided.

Pasyki stresses that going on strike was not the aim, noting that the situation was created by the “autocratic and arrogant stance” of the state health services organisation’s (Okypy) leadership.

Damianos, who was speaking to the press after a meeting with European Commissioner for health and food safety Stella Kyriakides at the cabinet, was also asked about the cancer drugs ruined at Limassol general hospital due to a refrigeration issue.

He noted that he had requested a report on the cause and on how to manage the situation so that all patients get their medication.