The need to support public hospitals to prevent their collapse, was stressed by MPs during the vote on the budget of the State Health Services Organization (OKYPY) for 2022. The budget was voted unanimously by 35 Members present.
The budget envisages expenditures amounting to € 569,791,931 and revenues amounting to € 549,592,022.
the last bulwark in the field of public health.
The President of EDEK, Marinos Sizopoulos, stated that the Ministry of Health has a huge responsibility for not upgrading the public hospitals and spoke about expediencies by some who wanted to have the end of either Cyprus Airways or the Co-operation. He stated that in the next period of time the state should proceed with a significant upgrade, increase of beds and staff and mainly with uniform decentralization. Regarding the Departments of First Aid, he said that these are the most burdensome and said that while there is legislation to join the GESS and TAEP of private hospitals, this was not done.
AKEL MP Marina Nikolaou said that the public hospitals, which are the backbone of the GESS and which have shown their importance in the health crisis, are in a very bad condition. He noted that they will continue to work hard until there are beds, infrastructure, staffing and the medical and paramedical is not working in conditions of burnout.
DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis stated that they want strong and high quality public hospitals. He added that the money given to GESS does not reflect the quality that the citizens would like and said that they expect OKYPY to invest money for this purpose. He added that the First Aid does not meet the needs of the citizens, while he asked for administrative autonomy for the Paphos hospital.
AKEL Parliamentary Representative George Loukaidis stated that the First Aid Departments were at the mercy of their fate and that the Health Committee, on the recommendation of AKEL, requested the business plan from OKYPY, which agreed in 2016 to upgrade, and publicly something they have not yet received. As he said, if the public hospitals are not supported, a question of sustainability arises and then some will either change the lights of GESS or privatize them.
DISY MP Savvia Orfanidou stated that at the center of the effort for the sustainability of state hospitals have their administrative autonomy.
Some, as he said, want to put obstacles and they are the ones who will lead to privatization at some point. He also mentioned that in the three years 2022-2024 there are expenses of 100 million euros from OKYPY for equipment and 150 million euros for large development projects in various provinces to upgrade the quality of state hospitals.
Regarding the First Aid departments acknowledged the need for staffing, but said their work should not be zeroed out. He added that it is very important to provide incentives for the TAEPs of private hospitals to join GESS.
