The shortage of nursing staff is in the region of 600 according to Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides, who has been trying to solve the problem caused by the public sector nursing unions. Private hospitals and clinics are suffering most from this shortage – some have been forced to consider closing departments because they do not have the number of nurses per bed stipulated by the law – have been demanding a solution for months now, but every attempt is blocked by the unions.

Last month the government prepared a bill that would have amended the law that placed major obstacles in the employment of third country nationals, who graduated from Cyprus universities and colleges, in nursing jobs. The law stipulated that the foreign nurses had to have a Masters’ degree (not a requirement for Cypriots) and have a very good command of spoken and written Greek. By scrapping these two union-imposed restrictions the problem would have been solved, but pressure on deputies by nursing unions Pasyno and Pasydy, persuaded the parties to shelve the amendment.

It was indicative of the power that public sector unions wield over the parties, especially two months before parliamentary elections. Representatives of private hospitals and clinics met on Tuesday to decide on a course of action, but were persuaded against taking any measures, by Charalambides who asked for time to find a solution. Speaking on the radio on Friday, Charalambides did not inspire great confidence, as his main concern seemed to be to give assurances to the nursing unions. He had no intention to harm the interests of the nurses, he said, which did not inspire confidence.

At present the inefficient, over-staffed public hospitals employ 65 per cent of nurses but undertake only 35 per cent of the work done by hospitals. In other words, private hospitals, with half the number of nurses of public hospitals, are responsible for double the medical actions. This means public hospital nurses work less than their counterparts in the private sector, and are paid about 40 per cent higher wages, because they belong to powerful unions that politicians always obey.

Things can only get worse because Okypy is now planning to hire more nurses for the public hospitals and the new recruits will come from the private sector which pays less. This will be catastrophic for private hospitals, which are already having difficulty coping with nursing shortages and must compete with Okypy which has been forced by the politicians to pay high wages for low productivity.

The minister said he would consider changing the nurses to bed ratio by decree as way of helping private hospitals operate with less nursing staff. But this is not the answer. The solution is to reduce the nurses to bed ratio at public hospitals, which is more than double that of the private hospitals, and increase efficiency. More importantly though is to allow the employment of third-country nurses that have graduated from local universities without the requirement of a Masters’ degree. Nursing unions cannot be allowed to preserve a regime that puts at risk the welfare of patients.