The supreme constitutional court on Friday annulled a decision by the administrative court which upheld the health ministry’s refusal to cover the costs for a cancer patient who had received treatment in the United Kingdom in 2012.

The court ordered the case to be reviewed as evidence emerged that potential errors occurred during the investigation of the case.

The case concerns a patient who had in 2012 sought treatment in London after claiming that the required treatment could not be provided in Cyprus, resulting in costs of around €68,000, which the patient later claimed from the Republic.

Following the opinion of the committee of surgical specialists, the ministry of health had back then rejected the patient’s request for cost coverage, arguing that the treatment could in fact be provided at the general hospital in Nicosia.

The appeal focused on documents confirming the Cypriot doctor’s lack of experience in carrying out the procedure in Cyprus, with the supreme constitutional court arguing that these crucial to determine whether appropriate treatment in the Republic had been possible at the time.

The administrative court had earlier rejected the validity of the documents as they had been issued later than the health ministry’s decision.