The government aims to improve state health services (Okypy) hospitals, Health Minister Popi Kanari said on Monday, stressing that efforts should be focused on improving Gesy.

Speaking after a meeting with Okypy’s leadership, Kanari said it was a constructive dialogue where she aimed to listen.

“Without hearing all sides, you cannot reach correct conclusions and promote correct procedures, that will bring about an improvement to the health system.”

During the meeting, they discussed the challenges hospitals are facing, the state support they require as well as the contribution from the Health Insurance Organisation.

Kanari said the public has been waiting for an improvement in Okypy hospitals while one of the departments she will focus on will be the A&E departments.

“We read terrible things in the newspapers and I don’t want us to have this image,” she said.

“We have great doctors, good hospitals and this isn’t the negative picture we should be sending out. I think we deserve something better.”

Okypy’s CEO Kypros Stavrides said they were working towards their goals and would be by Kanari’s side so as to better help patients.

The minister proceeded to have a meeting with Health Insurance Organisation (Hio) officials where she said they discussed important matters such as Gesy’s sustainability and university hospitals.

Gesy was a “necessary” development in Cyprus’ healthcare sector “which we should embrace but improve because there are distortions and problems. She added the president had given ministers a 100-day timeline to develop necessary regulations, both legislative and procedural, such as on evaluation issues, new protocols and new medicines.

Asked if there were efforts underway to introduce more medicines into Gesy, she said it was discussed but not in depth due to time constraints. Nonetheless, she conveyed that Hio intends to include a lot more medicine into Gesy that also aids a number of serious illnesses.

Hio chairman Stavros Michael said the meeting revealed “we are all in the same boat and will work together to achieve what Cypriot citizens want – quality healthcare.”