Half of the island’s ambulances are sitting unused, it was reported on Tuesday, due to a failure to reach an agreement between private ambulance providers and the state.

Eighty ambulances are currently standing idle head of the private ambulance association Roullis Christou told CyBC.

He added that the number of state ambulances in operation are of an approximately equivalent number.

Meanwhile, in an unproductive meeting with the health ministry on Monday, the prospect of inducting private ambulance services into the national healthcare system (Gesy)met “extreme negativity”, he said.

Head of the private hospitals association (Pasymn) Marios Karaiskakis, speaking on the same programme said the ambulances were “rusting away” through underuse.

“We want a national ambulance service which will include all ambulances to effectively serve patients,” he said, adding that current legislation does not allow any but Okypy (state health service organisation) vehicles to transfer a patient to state facilities.

This leads to ludicrous scenarios, he said, where a Gesy doctor may have seen a patient at a private clinic but when the patient’s condition necessitates transfer to a public hospital, using a private ambulance standing by would necessitate a charge, so the patient must await a public ambulance.

Both private service officials charged that the request to induct private ambulance services into Gesy was nothing out of the ordinary.

“At a time when in the EU such public-private partnership is promoted we essentially have a monopoly,” Christou said.

He added that Okypy ambulances get deployed to public events such as football matches or large gatherings as a precautionary measure while private ambulances stand parked and underutilised.

Okypy responded later on Tuesday, saying the current state of affairs is “correct” as “it ensures the safety of patients”.

“The criticism levelled at the health ministry’s permanent secretary is unwarranted and scientifically unsubstantiated, and any adoption of any other policy than the one followed today will endanger human lives.

“Okypy expresses its unadulterated support for the correct and good practices applied by the health ministry as it relates to ambulances and the provision of emergency pre-hospital healthcare,” they said.

Medical experts had previously charged that this state of affairs endangers lives.

“We consider it unacceptable and unthinkable to have ambulances [available] and not be entitled to serve our patients with them, expecting Okypy to serve us with daily delays and be waiting hours for an ambulance,” said Limassol medical centre director Andreas Pantazis, who last month sent a missive on the issue to Health Minister Michael Damianos.

Karaiskakis said the law regulating ambulance use was absurd and should be changed, with checks and, if necessary, protocols imposed on private ambulance providers to assure quality control, if this were the concern.

The demand is for the private ambulance vehicles to remain the property of private clinics, with only their services to be inducted into Gesy, avoiding a full nationalisation.