There will be “no escalation” of strike action taken by doctors, Health Minister Michael Damianos said on Tuesday.

He was speaking after a meeting with doctors’ unions which took place after the doctors’ 48-hour strike had come to an end, and said he was “optimistic” that a solution will be “found through dialogue”, describing the meeting as “very constructive”.

Later on Thursday, he told the House health committee that his ministry had agreed with the unions that no strike action would be taken until December 5 at the earliest, and that efforts would continue to resolve the dispute over bonus pay.

Doctors’ union Pasyki chairman Sotiris Koumas described the morning’s meeting as “constructive”, and said his union “feels vindicated”. Meanwhile, fellow union Pasydy’s doctors’ branch chairman Moses Lambrou said discussions will continue and refuted allegations that the strike action had been “irresponsible”.

Damianos had said earlier that he was “sure that within the framework of broader cooperation and understanding, solutions will be found”, though he did not go into detail regarding the particulars of the discussion.

“The solutions are there, and I am sure that we will be able to move forward,” he added, saying, “the dialogue is starting once again and a solution must certainly be found, so that this story, these strikes, can end, and so that the organisation can move forward.”

He said he will now discuss the matter with Okypy, with a view to holding a meeting with all the stakeholders in the coming days.

The dispute between doctors and Okypy which led to the strike centres on the payment of performance-based bonuses. Doctors insist they are owed €4.5 million in financial incentives for 2023. Okypy had offered them €4.1m in July, before an independent analysis found that they were owed just €2.5m, infuriating the doctors.

They insisted during the strike that they were ready to speak at any time to resolve the issue, particularly with a view to setting the parameters for pay going forward. However, they are also keen to reopen the matter of pay for the year 2023 – a matter Okypy insists is closed.

Okypy said any solution to the dispute “must be holistic”, and said an agreement should cover financial incentives between 2023 and 2027.

Earlier on Thursday, Damianos had warned warned that the pattern of repeated strikes and appeasement of demands, with essential health services shutting down, was problematic and in need of regulation.

He had acknowledged that the system for paying bonuses to doctors had “gaps”, and said that for this reason, a new agreement was “in order” for the period between 2025 and 2027.

Additionally, he said, the average annual salary for a doctor in Cyprus has trebled since 2018, with the figure now standing at around €150,000

He also touched on the matter of potentially tightening up minimum service rules for striking doctors, pointing out that in Greece, the minimum level of service mandated for accident and emergency units and intensive care units is higher than in Cyprus.

On this matter, employers and industrialists federation (Oev) chairman Antonis Antoniou, said that “regulation of the right to strike does not mean its abolition”.

“Unlike in other sectors, those who suffer the pressure [of the strike] are the innocent members of the public who are not shareholders and are not in a position to affect or negotiate outcomes,” he added.