A&E resources strained by wrongly referred incidents, health minister finds

Better organisation, staffing and expansion of A&E departments will be discussed in the coming weeks with the state health services organisation (Okypy), Health Minister Popi Kanari announced late on Monday.

The statement came after the minister’s visit to Larnaca general hospital as part of her ongoing working tour to ascertain conditions on the ground.

The minister visited the Larnaca A&E department and the haemodialysis unit in the hospital’s new building.

According to the health ministry announcement, Kanari spoke with doctors, nurses, secretarial staff and patients about the problems they face on a daily basis.

In her statement, the minister confirmed that an A&E bed shortage exists, compared to the large number of patients waiting to be served. However, Kanari also found that, as is the case at the Nicosia hospital, incidents which should not have been referred to the department are having to be managed.

Immediate solutions will be discussed, the minister said, to strengthen the departments’ capacities to serve their function.