The health ministry is ready to provide the state health service (Okypy) with all the funds required to ensure the smooth operation of Polis Chrysochous hospital, minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said on Tuesday.
He spoke after a meeting in Polis to discuss residents’ protests that understaffing at the hospital was endangering lives. It came a fortnight after a pensioner died in a taxi on his way to Paphos Hospital from Polis as the local hospital did not have an available ambulance to transfer him or an inpatient ward to treat him.
A post-mortem held the following day showed the 77-year-old fisherman had suffered an abdominal aneurism.
A meeting will be held with Okypy officials next week so that decisions can be taken by the end of the year, he added, noting that the issue was “very important and of the highest priority”.
He singled out bolstering the A&E with fully equipped ambulances and 24-hour operation of the X-ray and lab as key areas for action.
Residents also raised the issue of a cardiologist and specialist pathologists who were moved to Paphos and Limassol hospitals to cover needs in Covid wards there. The minister said he had promised the mayor of Polis and Paphos MPs that he would give them an implementation date before the end of the year.
But he also underlined the pressure on the health system from Covid, noting that the work being done should not be underestimated.
Mayor Yiotis Papachristofi said the minister had witnessed the frustration of residents in a region numbering more than 30 communities because the hospital was not operating as it should and promised to announce “real solutions” by the end of 2021.
