Cyprus has been facing a nursing shortage for some time, but nothing was done by the authorities apart from mounting a campaign encouraging young people to study nursing. The campaign worked very well as registrations for nursing courses doubled last year, but the problem is that these people will be available for work in three years. What happens in the meantime?

The situation has become rather desperate with private hospitals and the medical association expressing their dissatisfaction with the failure of the government to deal with the shortage. In a statement issued on Wednesday, they complained that “nobody is undertaking the pushing of the necessary decisions and the implementation of the imperative measures,” warning that private hospitals could be forced to reduce the number of beds they operate with.

Such a development would have dire consequences for patients as the reduction of hospital beds would mean delays for operations and the lengthening of waiting lists they warned. The delays in hiring nurses directedly affected the operation of hospitals and the quality of healthcare, they argued and blamed the authorities for dithering, because of trade union pressure.

The unions, it was implied by the private hospitals, were blocking the hiring of third country nationals who had graduated from Cyprus’ private universities as nurses, by making the excellent command of the Greek language a requirement for their employment. Although just a few dozen foreign nationals graduate as nurses each year, their employment would help things.

What is wrong with basic understanding of Greek, which is certain to improve after three months on the job? It is, after all, nurses we need and not Greek language teachers. Perfect Greek is not the only requirement. The law stipulates that a third country national must also have a post-graduate degree to be eligible for employment as a nurse in Cyprus. These are the kind of absurd provisions included in laws drafted by politicians on orders from union bosses. Now the law has to be amended to allow the employment of desperately needed third country nationals; we will hire them without a masters’ degree.

As if the situation were not bad enough, one of the nursing unions, a couple of weeks ago, proposed that nurses be allowed to retire at 60, thus making the current shortage more acute than it already is. This highlights the danger of allowing unions to call the shots. The restrictive practices nursing unions have imposed over the years at public hospitals are the main factor, contributing to the shortages being faced today.

For example, there are about four times as many nurses per bed in public hospitals, yet the service offered is no better than what is offered at private hospitals. And to make matters worse the entry level wage at public hospitals is about 70 per cent higher. Is it any wonder that private hospitals cannot find nurses?

The sensible thing to do, although it would require time, would be to reduce the nursing requirements of the inefficient, overstaffed public hospitals, although this is easier said than done, bearing in mind the power of nursing unions. We could change the law so that third country nationals that graduated from Cyprus universities are hired but this can only be a stop-gap measure. A full re-organisation of nursing operations at public hospitals must be undertaken if the shortage is to be properly dealt with.