TA NEA and journalist Stella Stylianou deal with the mass descent into Cyprus of hundreds of doctors from Greece in a report, hosting also statements by the Minister of Health of Cyprus Neophytos Charalambidis.
According to the NEON website, there are approximately 3,400 doctors working in Cyprus in total health system (GeSy). Of them, about 860 are doctors coming from Greece and they choose to work in Cyprus, mainly for financial reasons. For these doctors, the General Health System of Cyprus is attractive to doctors and patients.
Speaking to “NEA”, the Minister of Health Neophytos Charalambidis answers the question “what makes GeSY attractive”.
“What we can say with certainty is that GeSY it has some important features that make it highly beneficial, both for citizens and health professionals. First, it ensures the universal and equal access of citizens to health services, through an organized operating framework. Second, it offers the patient the option of choosing a personal physician and service provider, strengthening the relationship of trust between patient and doctor. At the same time, the system combines public and private sector participation in a common operating framework, which enhances the availability of services and the possibility of better serving citizens.
In addition, the digitization of many processes and the continuous upgrading of infrastructures contribute substantially to the improvement of the daily experience of both patients and healthcare professionals. The most important thing, however, is that the NHS remains an evolving system. We listen to the needs of citizens and health professionals and we are constantly working to improve its quality and efficiency.”
The pediatrician-neonatologist also speaks in the same report Irini Christopoulouwho worked at Children’s Agia Sophia in Athens (for two years), then he left Greece and went to Britain, to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cambridge University Hospital, where, as he stated to “NEA”, “the working conditions were excellent for a young scientist”.
However, “nostalgia for Greece and our extended family was what made us return in 2015.” She was hired by the Greek NHS as a supervisor B’ in the neonatal intensive care unit of the University Hospital of Patras. The experience was not positive, mainly due to the long working hours and the lack of planning.
When the Covid pandemic broke out, he was informed that it had opened position of neonatologist at Limassol hospital, he applied and was hired. “He imagined the perfect scenario. The environment was more organized, the conditions much better in everything. The system is similar to the British one.”
Would he return to Greece if the earnings were comparable? The answer to NEA is no… “Nobody can live on 2,000 euros a month. Plus we were working 60 hour weeks with overtime pay delayed for months. And to these let’s add high taxation”.
