Paphos hospital to get millions in upgrades says Okypy

“Dangerous medicine” is not being practiced at Paphos general hospital, state health services organisation Okypy said on Tuesday after criticisms were levelled against it.

“We categorically do not accept statements that the conditions are horrible or that dangerous medicine is practiced there [Paphos General],” Okypy spokesman Pambos Charilaou said.

He said that there are some “weaknesses” at the hospital, but that many millions of euro will be set out in their budget to upgrade it.

Commenting an issue Paphos Mayor Phedonas Phedonos brought up about an intubated patient needing to move to different hospital, Charilaou said that this is common practice and that it needs to be done based on the severity of the case.

He questioned: “How is this third-world conditions?”

According to Charilaou, the patient needed to be left in the Paphos A&E to stabilise before being moved, as it could have endangered the patient’s life to be immediately transferred to Limassol.

He added that Paphos general has an A&E unit that can only deal with cases of category 1 and 2, while Nicosia, Limassol, and Larnaca General have A&E units that can deal with up to category 3, which are serious cases.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Phedonos said conditions are “tragic, appalling and utterly shameful.”

Citing examples he had witnessed himself, Phedonos said that both the management as well as the physical state of the buildings were outrageously poor.

“When it rains, the cleaners are running about putting out ten to fifteen buckets to collect leaks, the whole place has rubbish and is in disarray,” the mayor said speaking to CyBC radio.

Even more serious than the physical shortcomings of a building which in its 32 years of existence has never seen a renovation, the mayor said, is the lack of hospital beds.

The mayor highlighted the paediatric unit in particular, saying that only four beds were now available, after beds had to be ceded to the maternity ward.

“Parents who bring their children in, with potentially serious conditions, are being told they are ‘lucky’ if a bed is found for the child in Limassol, or even Larnaca,” the mayor said. He added that it is only a matter of time before a tragedy happens when a parent decides not to drive this unreasonable distance if the child does not appear critically unwell.

Admitting that the issue in not directly under his remit, Phedonοs said he felt compelled to speak out as he receives complaints from residents on the matter daily.