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The budget of the OAI for 2022 amounts to €502 million, as Marios Panagidis, chairman of the Board of the OKYPY, said during his presentation at the session. "These revenues include for the first time an amount of €120 million from public health services, services of general economic interest and other services provided by the organisation to other departments of the Government," Panagides explained.
"Taking into account that Operating Expenses for the year, which do not include capital expenditure, are estimated at €498 million, It is expected that for 2022 the Agency will show a small operating surplus of €4 million. According to the plans of OKYPY, the operating surpluses are expected to increase in the following years to €16.5 million in 2023 and €26.5 million in 2023. He added in a statement after the end of the meeting.
As Mr Panagidis explained, for the three-year period 2022 - 2024, the Agency's management has drawn up an ambitious capital expenditure programme totalling approximately €250 million, He added that these investments will be financed, in addition to the Agency's operating surpluses, from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and through State Sponsorship during this period, through which the practical support of the State for the upgrading of the health services provided by the Agency is demonstrated.
These investments, he added, will be financed, in addition to the Agency's operating surpluses, from the Recovery and Resilience Fund and through State Sponsorship during this period.
The planning until 2023 is estimated to bring the organization closer to the goal of Financial Autonomy, ensuring the faithful implementation of the actions of the Business Plan, to improve the services provided and upgrade the infrastructure.
Following questions from the members of the Health Committee, regarding the list of ten pending projects for which a letter was also sent by the Ministry of Health, Panagides promised to present the progress of the Business Plan within the next few weeks.
He explained that for the implementation of the projects, the creation of a Technical Department and a Tenders and Purchasing Department, which can operate autonomously, has also progressed. In addition, he said, there will be Project Managers, i.e. teams of engineers and architects, to design the projects and prepare bid sheets, while assistance from foreign experts cannot be ruled out.
Cyprus Stavridis, Deputy Director General of OKYPY, said at the Commission meeting that the Agency will request the approval of a €35 million allocation for the period 2020-22 for equipment upgrades in order to make the Agency's services competitive. He stressed that "a balanced budget points the way to the principle of self-sufficiency of theOrganisation by achieving an operating surplus, but also by developing and improving infrastructure."
He said that the Agency will also focus on attracting revenue from outpatient care, which he said was severely affected during the pandemic period. "We are making a reset to bring outpatient care to the forefront and the introduction of evening hours will help us in this objective," he added.
He also said that in order to meet needs that were previously covered by government agencies, the Agency is seeking the opening of 160 new staff positions, of which 95 are administrative staff, 47 nurses and 19 doctors. In addition, he said, there are 75 hourly staff positions, and 306 people have been retired, so there will be a slight reduction in the total, which the Board believes will contribute to the savings efforts.
Satisfaction with the operating surplus of €4 million was expressed by Committee Chair and DISY MP Savvia Orphanidou, as this is expected to increase to €16.5 million in 2023 and €26.5 million in 2024. "This is indicative of the steady steps that have been taken by the Agency to achieve financial self-sufficiency, which is, after all, the philosophy of the YESY that we have voted for, after the submission of the state sponsorship will be completed in June 2024," she explained.
He acknowledged a positive sign in the management of the pandemic by public hospitals, which "is due both to the prudent management of the organization itself in recent years, but of course also to the work and sacrifices of all medical and nursing staff," he added. Finally, he stressed the need for the immediate promotion of development projects and the staffing of key areas that have not yet been fully staffed, such as the Emergency Departments (EDs).
DISY MP Haralambos Pazaros said that "in the midst of a pandemic, the public hospitals have made us face up and we need to invest in order to become competitive with private hospitals."
DISY MP Haralambos Pazaros said that "in the midst of a pandemic, public hospitals have made us face up and we need to invest in order to become competitive with private hospitals. He stressed that the TAPs must become a priority, because they are the Achilles' heel of the hospitals and cause suffering to many people.
AKEL MP George Loukaides said that "the public health system must be put on a new course", as "the beautiful image" presented by the Board of Directors of the Organisation during the meeting is not in line with "the reality we live in". He recalled the letter from the Minister of Health criticising the failure of the HMO to implement its commitments to projects to upgrade its infrastructure and services. She stressed, however, that AKEL MPs would continue to support efforts to upgrade and modernise public health.
During her intervention at the session, AKEL MP Marina Nicolaou thanked the staff of public hospitals for their efforts, especially during the period of the pandemic. "We will continue to defend public health at all costs," she said, stressing that delays in the implementation of projects leave people who need the services of public hospitals exposed, citing as an example the situation at the Athalassa Hospital.
AKEL MP Christos Christofias, in his intervention at the meeting, expressed concerns about the risk of medical staff leaks to the private sector due to the weakening of public hospitals.
DIKO MP Panicos Leonidou suggested that every month there should be an item on the agenda of the Health Committee to monitor the activities of the OCYPY and OAY, so that they can be audited at regular intervals. "It is everyone's duty and obligation to find a way to protect the organisations," he said. He expressed concern that the effort of public hospitals to cope with the pandemic had cost the lives of patients with other conditions.
The President and MP of the EPP, Marinos Sizopoulos, said that "since 2001, when the bill for the operation of the General Health System was first passed, no government has done anything to substantially upgrade the public health sector," citing the existence of only one MRI scanner in a public hospital. He added that evaluation is needed in the health system in general and not only in the NHS.
DPA MP Michael Yakoumi stressed that public hospitals were on the front line in the effort to stop the pandemic, while they remain on the front line for serious accidents. He expressed the view that "excellent work" is being done in public hospitals and that problems will exist, so the effort to resolve them will continue.
Source: CNA
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