Athalassa hospital staff protest overcrowding, understaffing

Nursing staff at Athalassa psychiatric hospital staged a two-hour work stoppage on Friday to protest overcrowding and understaffing at the facility.

According to the nurses’ branch of the civil servants’ union Pasydy, there has been a sharp increase in admissions to the hospital which now had more patients than capacity, with authorities failing to act to address the issue.

As a result, on Thursday, one patient had to be accommodated on a sofa and the second on the floor, the union said in a statement.

The union denounced actions which damage the professionalism of nursing staff and place patients in danger.

The union will evaluate the situation and decide on further action, it concluded.