The pending retirement of the health ministry permanent secretary has put a system to send eligible patients and carers overseas for treatment in jeopardy, it emerged on Friday.

For treatments not available in Cyprus, the national health scheme Gesy covers the cost of certain treatments abroad, approved on a case-by-case basis.

The scheme is currently operated by the ministry of health although at a meeting of the House health committee in September 2023 it was agreed by all stakeholders that it would be transferred to the HIO, which oversees the implementation of Gesy.

But is has remained under the control of permanent secretary Christina Yiannaki, who is set to retire at the end of the month leaving no one in charge of running it.

A proposal for Yiannaki to continue as a consultant for the HIO after her retirement is on the table. She would provide her services for two 12-month periods according to need.

Health Minister Michael Damianos has that a total of 1,523 patients had been sent abroad to Germany, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Sweden and Greece in 2023.

The ministry had developed a wide and flexible network of collaborations with leading hospitals across Europe for cases that could not be treated in Cyprus, Damianos had said.

Last year, President Nikos Christodoulides boosted this by announcing a plan to subsidise the travel, accommodation and food expenses of those accompanying patients sent abroad.

Christodoulides had pledged to promote all the necessary procedures so that by the time of Yiannaki’s retirement the referral services would be integrated into Gesy.

The HIO has blamed understaffing for the omission, and said the ministry of finance had not greenlit positions requested to staff a new service necessary for the referrals process.