OEB, Association of Private Hospitals, Cyprus Medical Association:
It is imperative to meet the needs of nursing and midwifery staff
The inability to staff health units with the necessary nursing staff is a risk to the maintenance of existing beds but also a serious disincentive for new investments in units and infrastructure, with all that this implies for the quality of the health services provided.
All bodies involved in health – the state, professional and business bodies, as well as patient organizations – recognize the existence of shortcomings and it is now time to work together to implement effective solutions.
The recent announcement of the Pancyprian Association of Nurses and Midwives (PASYNM) confirms the findings of the Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEB), the Pancyprian Association of Private Hospitals (PASIN) and the Pancyprian Medical Association (PIS). The three Agencies welcome with satisfaction the fact that PASYNM adopts part of our recommendations to alleviate the pressing needs, such as the promotion of the nursing profession to increase the number of nursing students, the introduction of new support roles of dialysis technician and technical toolmaker, the rapid training of health caregivers and the effort to reintegrate nurses who are outside the sector.
In any case, however, these measures will bear fruit in the long run and can only deal with a small part of the problem, without solving it. PASYNM’s insistence on regulating the issue of staffing ratios through legislation and the conditions it sets for the employment of nurses from third countries, certainly lead to the perpetuation and worsening of the problem.
Private hospitals are currently obliged to maintain one of the highest ratios of nurses to patients in the world (in Cyprus it is 1:5 while in Germany it is 1:13), without the necessary number of nurses in the labor market.
It is emphasized that no developed health system regulates the staffing ratios of health units through legislation. The regulation of the issue in Cyprus by Decree of the competent Minister of Health, will give the state the necessary flexibility to respond immediately to the data of the sector, without discounts on the quality of health services or the safety of patients and employees.
In addition, and until the ratio of nurses to patients changes, the only feasible and immediate solution to meet the needs is the employment of nurses from third countries.
The problems of the health sector and patients can only be solved through a realistic assessment of data, bona fide cooperation and quick decision-making.
