A specialist doctor known at the beginning of 2016 and his “activities” in the public sector seems to be the private health professional contracted with GESS who is being prosecuted, following complaints from patients. Complaints against him were made by dozens of beneficiaries of GESS, who complained to the OAU that the said doctor entered in the system a fictitious number of specific health care services. The investigation that followed revealed that the defendant's company registered a combination of activities providing specific health care services, for which a claim was made without them being provided to patients. The doctor is said to have committed crimes of corruption, money laundering, preparation of documents without authority, falsification of records and records, fraud and embezzlement of property with false representations. The doctor had previously been arrested on a total of 10 charges, however, after a four-day detention he was released without charge, as no incriminating evidence emerged against him or brought before a court.
First in suspension
As “P” is informed, this is a specialist doctor, specifically a neurologist, who works in a private clinic in Nicosia and whose contract with GESS has already ended. The complaints that the OAY has at its disposal concern from the 1st of November 2019 until the 30th of October 2020, with the information talking about serious offenses that led the provider out of the system. Indicative of the seriousness of his offenses is the fact that the OAU started investigating the case at least a year ago, with the neurologist coming in almost five months later. Specifically, on January 27, 2021, the neurologist received a letter from the organization stating the start of an ex-officio investigation, with the specialist doctor being informed on May 19, 2021 that his contract was suspended. According to the letter, an audit of the IT system revealed that specific activities for which a claim was made were not medically necessary and / or there was no evidence to justify their occurrence or repetition. According to what the senior OAY official, Maria Kythreotou, told “P”, the organization, after investigating the case, came to the conclusion that the specialist doctor had committed criminal offenses, and after informing the authorities, terminated the contract of the provider with the system. She also noted that at the moment there are 10 other providers in suspension, while so far the contract has been terminated for four professionals, emphasizing that the investigations carried out by the organization can last from three months to a year, which depends on the data available and whether access to medical data is required.
The complaints
As for the doctor who is being prosecuted, a competent source told “P” that there are dozens of complaints against him concerning a combination of activities in the GESS, for which a payment claim was submitted without them, however, having been made. An example is the case of a citizen who complained that the said specialist doctor registered in the system a claim for compensation for seven injections which he never gave him, while in another case he seems to have given three injections, but in the system there are five.
Past
In relation to the profile, but also the past of this particular health professional, it is worth noting that before turning to the private sector he worked in a public hospital. During his tenure in the public service, he was detained for four days, with the authorities investigating a total of 10 offenses against him, including conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, abuse of power, deceit and abuse of trust by a public official, decimation , extortion of money with false representations and offenses of corruption. Specifically, in May 2016, a person had complained to the Police that the neurologist had exploited him for the amount of 1,500 euros, in connection with an operation he performed in February 2016 on his mother-in-law, aged 70, to place a valve in the brain and abdomen. drainage catheter due to hydrocephalus. The investigation of the Ministry of Health had concluded that the patient's family was deceived, because, while they paid for a specific valve, which as they were told was better than the one available by the state, finally a public valve was installed, for which the patient , as a beneficiary of free medical care, would have no financial burden. According to a second complaint, the specialist doctor sent a patient to a private diagnostic center for MRI and then examined the same patient at his home, receiving a fee of 60 euros. A total of five cases were put under the microscope of the authorities, while in relation to the first complaint, the wife of the neurosurgeon, owner of a company with consumables, was also arrested, who was interrogated as the person who received the money from the complaining patient for the alleged purchase of a valve.
