In Cyprus, cases of medical negligence and poor -quality service are increasingly fixed.
Patients complain of incorrect diagnoses, delays in providing assistance, which sometimes lead to fatal outcome, errors in reading laboratory and radiological research, unnecessary surgical operations and even incorrect behavior of medical personnel. All these appeals enter the supervisory board of the rights of patients under the Federation of Unions of Cyprus Patients (οσακ).
According to representatives of the organization, the number of such complaints is growing every month, which causes serious concern in both patients and the medical community.
The chairman of οσακ Kharalamma Papadopulos noted that many complaints go to the organization informally, without subsequent legal steps. Because of this, it is impossible to conduct a full-fledged investigation. He emphasized that patients should not be afraid to submit official statements so that each situation could be considered on the merits.
A similar opinion was expressed by the Chairman of the Ethics Committee on the Pankipr Medical Society, Mikhalis Anastasiadis. According to him, only official complaints make it possible to transfer the case to court and hold doctors accountable, whose actions really fall under the definition of negligence.
In August alone, in two weeks, six complaints were received in the Supervisory Board, some of which are associated with a possible medical error. A special resonance was caused by two cases:
In the first case, the family of a 63-year-old woman who died of metastatic pancreatic cancer accused the radiologist of the fact that there were no more signs of a tumor on an MRI, made two years before his death. Due to the delay in the diagnosis, the disease developed, and the patient died in 2024. Relatives filed a lawsuit about medical negligence. In the second case, a 62-year-old woman with a rare spinal cord disease died in a Nikosi hospital. According to loved ones, she waited more than eight hours to examine the doctor in the emergency department, after which her condition worsened sharply. In the intensive care unit, the patient was left without oxygen for more than 20 minutes, which led to irreversible consequences. Relatives have not yet received an official explanation of the causes of death.
Other appeals of patients relate to delays in diagnosis, unnecessary operations, loss of biopsy results, lack of adequate response to fractures, as well as doctors' failures to take responsibility for complicated cases. Some families complain that they are forced to independently look for specialists outside the state healthcare system (HESS) and pay for expensive treatment.
The frequent complaints indicate the need for the reform of the medical system of Cyprus. Patient organizations and medical associations urge citizens to actively report problems so that you can identify systemic errors, protect the rights of patients and improve the quality of medical services.
Source: Philenews.com
