[PIO] Statements by the Minister of Health on the approval by the Council of Ministers of the Plan for the Provision of Government Grants to

Today the Council of Ministers approved the Government Sponsorship Scheme for Private and Public Hospitals for Accreditation. This project is included in the Cyprus Recovery and Resilience Plan (CRP) for the period 2021 - 2026 and will be funded by the European Union (EU) Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The total amount allocated for the needs of the project amounts to €2.5 million.

Our goal, as stated by the Minister of Health, Dr. Popi Kanari, is to upgrade health services through the implementation of internationally recognized quality standards ISQua, and the final accreditation of hospitals. The term hospital, she clarified, refers to hospitals, polyclinics, clinics as well as all-day day care units.

The grant to be provided for the accreditation of nursing homes, the Minister said, will contribute to strengthening their competitiveness by improving the quality of health services, in line with the goals and objectives of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

It will be provided, he added, to public hospitals and licensed private hospitals, which are included in the GHS and meet specific requirements with regard to their activities within the GHS, which must constitute at least 80% of their total activities. It will not constitute State aid, he explained, and will be exempt from the State Aid Control (De Minimis). As regards private hospitals that are not part of the GHS, the grant to be provided will be governed by the De Minimis regulations.

The grant is dual and follows the hospital's path towards accreditation. It amounts to covering up to 50% of the cost of consultancy services to nursing homes, on a sliding scale according to their size.

In a second phase, the cost of obtaining an accreditation certificate is subsidised up to 70% of the cost, on a sliding scale according to the size of the nursing home.

In conclusion, Dr Kanari pointed out that nursing homes that are already accredited and are subsidized for re-accreditation purposes are not exempted from the subsidy.

(DK)
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