Timetables will be set to solve problems in the health sector, President of the Republic Nicos Christodoulides said today.
In a statement to reporters after his visit to the Limassol General Hospital, the President of the Republic said that "I chose my first visit to a public service to be to the Limassol General Hospital on the one hand to send a message of support for the GESY, the most important social reform in our country, a reform that we want to upgrade even further, always within the philosophy of the GESY as adopted."
Are there any problems? Yes, there are serious problems and that is why I had the opportunity here today to discuss all these problems.
First of all, we have to acknowledge the problem, it is important to acknowledge it. Many of these problems are to be expected, given the importance, the significance of this social reform, but for us the state is judged on a daily basis, particularly in four areas: health, education, social policy and public security.
I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate the support of the Government, we are partners in this effort. The Minister of Health has started from day one contacts with all the partners involved in the health sector and subsequently, in about two weeks, we will have a meeting where we will set timetables - because the 'diagnosis' is the easy part, the difficult part is the 'treatment' of all that we have to deal with on the basis of specific timetables. And when we talk about health in particular, where we will all be judged is by the quality of the services provided.
In the last few days I have been the recipient of a lot of messages through social media, particularly about the situation in First Aid. We exchanged views both with patients and doctors, and with the OCYPY, some decisions have been taken which will be rolled out immediately, so that we do not have these kinds of incidents again."
Asked why it started from the Limassol Hospital and whether some incidents that saw the light of day played a role or it was a coincidence, the President of the Republic said that "the decision was made before some incidents saw the light of day."
Asked why it started from the Limassol Hospital and whether some incidents that saw the light of day played a role or it was a coincidence, the President of the Republic said that "the decision was made before some incidents saw the light of day. I chose to come to the second largest hospital in our country. During the election campaign I had visited the Nicosia General Hospital, the Makarios Hospital, now I chose to start these meetings from here.
Such meetings will be held without your (media) presence and without any announcement."
In response to a journalist's remark that this will be a surprise, the President of the Republic said "surprise not to create problems or cause difficulties for anyone. I consider it an obligation, I consider it a duty, to make such visits, much more so the relevant ministers, precisely to address problems in the four areas I mentioned. A state exists to play a leading role in the areas of health, education, social policy and public safety.
Asked to comment on a report by the Director of the Hospital that the hospitals have turned into geriatric hospitals and whether this concerns him, President Christodoulides said "of course it concerns me, I have discussed it with the Minister, and with the staff especially in the pathology clinic and what I see - I saw it during the election campaign and if you see in our election programme there is a reference to it - what is missing is that we have a policy as a state, over time, for the elderly. It is an area where we are lagging behind to a significant extent compared to other EU Member States. This lack of a specific policy on old age is something that leads to the reference made earlier during the discussion with the doctors."
Asked if he sees long-standing pathologies in the system, President Christodoulides said that "the GESY, as one of the biggest, if not the biggest social reform in our country, is very normal to have problems. For me it would be surprising if there were no problems. It is more important that the government has the clear political will to address these problems on the basis of concrete planning, but also on the basis of timetables. We are in a hospital. 'Diagnosis' is very important, more important for us is 'treatment' and that is why we will be in constant dialogue with all health partners to address these problems."
(PM/EP/EHR)
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