The Minister of Health expressed his satisfaction on Saturday, Michael Hadjipandela, for the achievement of the goal of operating the Outpatient Clinics to provide services to beneficiaries of the General Health System (GHS) on weekends and public holidays.
On Saturday morning, the Minister visited the Health Centre of Latsia, on the occasion of the opening of the Outpatient Clinics, where he toured the premises to be used for this purpose and talked to the staff.
"I feel happy and proud because we achieved this goal," he said in remarks during his visit to the health center.
"The first day is going well," he said, adding that the purpose of his visit was to find out about any problems. "As I have mentioned several times, we need to give this institution time to work andif there are any problems we will address them," he added.
The minister said they will be evaluating this institution on a weekly basis.
He said that on Monday when they have a press conference regarding afternoon surgeries, he has invited all doctors who will be working this weekend to go to the Ministry of Health.
"I will have the opportunity to talk to all the doctors who were on the front line to hear from them if there are any problems or if we have any other suggestions to improve this institution," he added.
Asked about this, Mr. Hadjipandela said that so far, (around 1120), at this centre we have had 10 visits," while more appointments were expected by the end of the day.
"It is a satisfactory number, we expect more response tomorrow and in the coming weeks," he said. He added that there was also a paediatrician at the centre who, saw two children on Saturday morning and more appointments were expected.
"We want to give people the opportunity to learn about this institution and I am sure with the right information it will be embraced by our people," he said, to decongest the First Aid Departments as well.
The Minister said he saw the examination rooms and equipment at this health centre and expressed his satisfaction.
"Our equipment and our dispensaries are in excellent condition, and I urge people in need to come here and not to go to the First Aid," he added, explaining that people whose personal physician is absent can go to the on-call dispensaries, but not for serious cases.
Nursing officer Anthoula Panagi who was on duty at the health centre on Saturday explained the procedure. She said if a patient needs to consult a doctor on weekends or public holidays, they should speak to their personal physician and if they are unable to do so, they can call the on-call centres. There they will first speak to a receptionist and be referred by telephone to one of the nurses at these centres who will assess each patient to decide whether they should be seen or whether they should go to a GP. If it is decided that the patient should be seen by a personal physician, they will be given an appointment within the day.
Opening hours are Saturday from 09:00 to 17:00 and Sunday and Public Holidays from 15:00 to 19:00.
Source: KYPE
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