By Nicolas Petros Kaparti
With thorns and unanswered questions, the way was paved for the implementation of the institution of on-call clinics on weekends and public holidays. The Health Insurance Agency has come to an agreement with the personal doctors and is making efforts to implement the institution in June, as originally planned, but there is an obstacle as to where the on-call clinics will be located.
As the Cyprus[/B][/B] Times[/B] is informed, the ideal scenario for OAI and Personal Doctors is the use of the premises in the Health Centres, as they meet all the criteria required for the implementation of this institution. This prospect, however, is not viewed positively by the State Health Services Agency, which has requested further time to study all the data before submitting its final response. In fact, a competent source indicated to the Cyprus Times that the HHC does not want private doctors to enter the public buildings of health centres.
Dr Polyniki: "Health Centres are underperforming"
Speaking to the Cyprus[/B] Times[/B] on the issue, the president of the Society of Personal and Family Doctors, Dr Andreas Polyneikis, said that doctors are willing to serve this institution under certain conditions.
He explained that "we discussed with the OAI, found the right course and agreed that it would be good for the on-call to be at the Health Centers, because they have all the conditions needed to support such a service. And while none of us expected anything else, we were informed by the OAI that the HMO does not agree that the on-call clinics should be in the Health Centres."
At the same time, he suggested that "neither the doctors nor the OCYPY have the right to say what will happen to the state's property", while explaining that "the Health Centres are underutilised, have huge spaces that are not utilised and have to be maintained at the expense of the taxpaying citizen".
"We said," Andreas Polyneikes continued, "that OAI would take over these services, pay the rent and provide the support services. Is there anyone who will put their logic to work and disagree with that proposal? The Health Centers have parking, their locations are known to the citizens, they have a waiting area, they have a small First Aid Department so that the doctor on call can offer them what they need and they have offices closed."
"So what is it that makes them not want to?", asked Dr. Andreas Polyneikes.
OCYPY: "We will submit our positions within two weeks"
For his part, the spokesman of the OCYP, Haralambos Harilaou, told the Cyprus Times that "we are not negative about on-call doctors' offices, we believe that they can help to relieve the congestion in the TAPs. There was a meeting last Thursday with the Minister of Health, some issues were discussed and we have committed that within two weeks we will put forward our positions and views as an organisation."
"We cannot say any details because we are in dialogue at the moment. We will meet the timelines set by the Ministry of Health and submit our recommendations," he added.
Asked to comment on whether it is feasible to implement the proposal of the Personal Doctors and the OAI, that the facilities of the Health Centres of the OCYPY, be given to operate the on-call clinics, Harilaou replied that he does not know and indicated that the Doctors' Guild does not accept this proposal either. "We cannot say more, the issue is complex," Harilaou stressed.
Alternative plans on the table
From there, the Health Insurance Organisation, seeing the obstacle in the whole issue, prepared a plan b' and c' in order to be ready in case the attempt to implement on-call doctors' offices in health centres falls through for good.
As a Cyprus
[/B][/B][/B]
A competent source from the OAI
[/B] told the Cyprus Times[/B][/B], the plan b' provides for on-call clinics to operate in the offices of each personal physician separately. However, this is a less than ideal solution, as beneficiaries are not in a position to know the locations of all P.I. practices and each time they need this service they will have to search for the location of the doctor on call.
According to the same source, plan c', which is the preferred plan in the event that plan a' fails, provides for the use of the space available in the private hospitals contracted to the GESY. In particular, the OAS is investigating whether the rooms and examination rooms of private hospitals, which are not used on weekends, can be made available in order to apply the scheme to these rooms. An attempt will also be made to make use of the support staff they have, in case this plan is ultimately chosen.
It should be noted that during the implementation of the institution there will be one centre in each district. In the large districts (Nicosia-Lemesos) two Personal Physicians and one Paediatrician will be on duty, while in the smaller districts one Personal Physician and one Paediatrician will be on duty. As far as the opening hours are concerned, this has not been "locked" yet, but there are considerations that the on-call clinics will be open for 8 hours on Saturdays and for 4 hours on Sundays and public holidays.
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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