The Ministry of Health is expected to submit a revised bill in the coming days to regulate the establishment of university clinics and university hospitals. The House Health Committee discussed the proposal in principle today.
Following the meeting, Health Minister Neofytos Charalambides described the discussion as a “substantive step” towards establishing a legal framework for the clinics and hospitals. Despite differing approaches to individual issues, he said, “there is significant common ground”.
“Cyprus needs a modern institutional framework that systematically links clinical practice with medical education and research, with the safety and interests of the patient always as the primary criterion,” he said.
Improving the framework
Charalambides said the Ministry had listened carefully to the concerns and suggestions raised and was ready to consider proposals that would improve the framework without altering the reform’s central aim. The goal, he added, was a safe and modern legislative framework that could secure the broadest possible support.
Referring to the issue’s long-standing status, he noted that it had been part of public life since 2013. “Almost 14 years later, we have a duty to bring this effort to a functional and workable outcome,” he said.
Asked whether university clinics could operate in private hospitals, the Minister said this was provided for in the proposed bill and that “at the end of the day, Parliament will decide” when it votes on the final text.
Cyprus has fallen 'very far behind'
Health Committee Chair Savia Orfanidou said Cyprus was “today perhaps the only European Union member state” without university hospitals and clinics, adding that “as a state, we have fallen very far behind”.
She said the discussion had shown that “everyone wants us to move in the same direction” so that the bill could proceed to a vote. The next step, she noted, depended on the views of stakeholders and the revised text to be submitted by the Minister. The Committee was ready to begin an article-by-article examination as soon as it was submitted.
“Our aim will certainly not be only to pass the legislation; ultimately, something must be implemented that can operate effectively, without problems, primarily for the benefit of the Cypriot patient,” Orfanidou said.
AKEL MP Marina Nicolaou said her party supported the need for university clinics, highlighting their potential benefits for health, education and scientific development. At the same time, she said, stakeholders from the medical community who are directly involved continued to have “significant concerns” about the proposed model.
“We do not have a clear picture of the text itself at this time,” she said, adding that AKEL was waiting for the revised bill to be submitted before taking a position on its specific provisions. She also said the party was ready to contribute “constructively” to drafting a bill that would serve “the best possible interests of the patient”, safeguard the sustainability and smooth operation of public hospitals, and protect the quality of health services.
15-year-discussion
ELAM MP Andreas Papacharalambous pointed to the delay in establishing university clinics in Cyprus. He said it “does not do our country credit” that Cyprus still has no such clinics while the discussion has been under way for about 15 years.
“A discussion that began some 15 years ago must reach a conclusion,” he said, describing the establishment of university clinics as “an investment in health, education, research and, above all, people”. He welcomed the Health Minister’s position and said ELAM would closely monitor the bill’s progress, with the aim of seeing it passed before the end of the year.
ALMA – Citizens for Cyprus MP Litsa Drousiotou said her party was clearly in favour of establishing university clinics and hospitals. “The conversion of public hospitals into university hospitals is an explicit part of our political position,” she said.
She stressed, however, that the reform should substantially upgrade public hospitals and public medical education and should not be limited, as she put it, to “simply granting universities access to public clinical facilities”. She also called for clear national planning, open and transparent procedures, and the protection of the public interest.
OSAK Honorary President Marios Kouloumas welcomed the start of the bill’s discussion, stressing that the priority was to create “an effective, functional institutional framework” for university clinics. The framework, he said, should help improve education, research and health services, with “the Cypriot patient and their interests as its guiding principle”.
Among other issues, Kouloumas raised the need for a clear distinction between university, affiliated and hospital clinics, as well as clear rules governing cooperation between hospitals and universities. He also said OSAK’s position was that “every hospital should cooperate with one medical school” and that the legislation should set the criteria for designating a hospital as a university hospital.
Source: CNA
