Personal doctors in the General Healthcare System (GHS) are raising the alarm over what they describe as “pointless bureaucracy,” saying they are trapped in a referral process that hinders rather than helps. “There are days when a personal doctor can spend up to two hours issuing unnecessary referrals,” said Mary Avraamides, president of the Cyprus Association of Personal Doctors, describing a “needless ordeal” that affects both physicians and patients.
Avraamides compared the usefulness of long-term referrals to “trying to unlock a door that is already open.” “Chronic patients are already diagnosed and must be monitored for life by a specialist. There is no reason for them to need a new referral every few months,” she noted.
She urged the Health Insurance Organisation (HIO) to speed up the creation of chronic disease registries and make changes to the GHS software so that registered patients are automatically exempt from referral requirements. “If the HIO grants access to specialists without a referral, that right should appear in the system. Patients should not have to pay €25 because the indication is not visible to providers,” she said.
Avraamides added that current restrictions “make the work of personal doctors more difficult, as we are forced to refer patients to specialists for even simple tests, creating unnecessary waiting lists.” After six years of the GHS, she said, the system should evolve: “The early cases of abuse no longer exist, and it is time for the system to adapt to the new reality.”
HIO Calls for “Balance”
Speaking to Politis, senior HIO official Petros Neophytou said that for certain conditions, such as cancer, “patients already have the right to direct access to specialists,” though this remains “limited.” He explained that the chronic patient registries aim to make access easier where needed but stressed that “not all chronic patients should be automatically referred to specialists.”
“The organisation must be very cautious not to undermine the role of personal doctors and to avoid excessive visits,” he said.
Neophytou also recalled that “in the past, many specialists requested long-term referrals for patients they saw only twice a year.” For that reason, he explained, the regulation was revised to extend the duration of referrals from six to twelve months.
“Even so, in 2024, over 40 percent of long-term referrals covered only two visits per year,” he added, noting that the HIO is trying to maintain a careful balance between access and control.