Patients are running out of specialized medications due to the state’s lack of planning. The Ministry of Health is scrambling to secure additional funds to cover the needs of patients for the next two weeks. An important medicine for kidney disease sufferers has been in short supply for a month.
The Ministry of Health has submitted a draft law for legal scrutiny to establish the Patient Advocate institution in Cyprus. The Health Minister mentioned that various draft laws concerning rehabilitation centers, university hospitals, paramedics, palliative care services, and more are also in the works and will be submitted to Parliament within 2024.
Doctors and other Gesy service providers are facing verbal attacks from uninformed patients. Cases of abuse against doctors include verbal attacks and threats. The lack of information leads to long waiting lists and patients demanding more than they are entitled to. The House health committee chairman suggests creating a “patient advocate” to address these issues. The committee has allocated over €1 million for an information campaign to educate patients about their rights.
President Nikos Christodoulides announced that the cabinet will discuss a plan to subsidize travel, accommodation, and food expenses for those accompanying people sent abroad for medical treatment. Additionally, a proposal to create a “patient advocate” will be discussed. Christodoulides emphasized the goal of eliminating the need to send patients abroad as a measure of success for the government and Cyprus, highlighting the importance of providing quality health services domestically. Health Minister Michalis Damianos reported that 1,523 patients were sent abroad from Cyprus last year for various specialized treatments, underlining the state’s responsibility to support these patients and the necessity of international collaborations for immediate patient transfer when needed.