In brief, the following measures are undertaken with regards to the operations of Public Health Services as communicated on March 16th . The formal communique in Greek has been unofficially translated, as follows:-
1. General Rules
• No visits allowed
• Continuance of Disinfection measures
• For non-urgent already-programmed appointments patients will only visit after notification by the equivalent Health Clinic. Exception applies for patients with oncological, hematological and kidney problems and other vulnerable groups, such as paraplegics.
• Routine needs of the beneficiaries who have scheduled appointments with Specialist Doctors of the Organization regarding prescription, referrals etc. will be handled electronically by the attending physician and patients will be informed by telephone.
• Surgery will only be performed in emergencies for patients who are already hospitalized or according to the patient’s history, the treating physician considers that he should receive immediate medical examination and / or surgery in order not to endanger his / her life. (such as malignant tumor, heart ultrasound, biopsy, etc.).
• Specialist pharmacy clinics in Hospitals/Health Centers will only work for chronic patients.
2. Paphos General Hospital
• Pafos General Hospital remains closed and disinfection of the premises continues.
• Any patient (who has not yet been admitted to the hospital) who needs immediate treatment will be referred to the private sector. The Ministry of Health has already made the necessary arrangements.
3. Nicosia General Hospital
• All treatment units operate normally, except for the cardiac surgery clinic, which provides services exclusively to patients already hospitalized, who will gradually be discharged based on their clinical condition.
• Coverage of new cardiac surgeries will continue to be provided by the private sector through the purchase of services.
4. Famagusta General Hospital
• Famagusta General Hospital continues to operate as the reporting hospital for confirmed cases of coronavirus. In addition, the Hospital operates the Accident and Emergency Department, as well as the Hemodialysis Unit.
5. Other Public Hospitals
• In addition to the general rules in force in paragraph 1, in the other Public Hospitals, Accident and Emergency Departments and Hemodialysis Units still operate and continue to treat inpatients.
6. Primary Health Care
• The public is informed that SHSO Health Centers will continue to operate, but beneficiaries are invited to come to these centers only for an acute or serious problem.
• Personal Practitioners will focus more on telephone contact with beneficiaries, taking into account that the majority are elderly or belong to other vulnerable groups of the population.
• Routine needs of the beneficiaries registered to the Health Organizations Personal Practitioners regarding prescription, referrals etc. will be handled electronically.
• If, in spite of the telephone communication and electronic processing of the beneficiaries’ needs, there is still a need to attend the Health Centers, this will be done, as far as possible, by appointment, in order to avoid an increased concurrent attendance of the beneficiaries
For all Hospitals, canceled appointments will be rescheduled and affected patients will be informed. Patients should only be admitted to the Accident and Emergency Departments (ADEPs) exclusively for emergencies.
People who have traveled to affected areas for the past 14 days and have mild symptoms are kindly requested not to go to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Departments (ADEPs, stay home and contact 1420 and 1450 for instructions.