Health Minister Michael Damianos on Sunday said he is “optimistic” that an ongoing dispute between doctors and the state health services organisation (Okypy) will be resolved within the week.

He said he will meet again with doctors’ trade unions on Thursday to “discuss how we can cooperate so that this situation can end”.

“I am very optimistic that we will find a solution. There has been a strike, which could have been avoided, but we must look ahead,” he said.

To this end, he pointed out that the strike action taken by doctors was brought to an end after 48 hours, with doctors not currently planning to escalate their measures.

“There will be a discussion, obviously we will also put something on the table, because as I have said, I believe that there is some compromise there with which we can continue,” he said.

He then added that the solution “cannot be anything but holistic”, and that “we have to close this deal, we have to finish this”.

“Of course, there is the financial aspect, there is also the part in which we want to ensure peace in terms of labour relations going forward, not just for months, but for years,” he added.

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 has insisted is closed.

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

Doctors’ union Pasyki chairman Sotiris Koumas described meeting between unions, Damianos, and Okypy last Thursday 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.”