Well being Minister Michalis Damianou has pledged to have the laws establishing college clinics prepared earlier than the tip of the yr however is steeling himself for a tricky battle with the College of Cyprus.
“We can not please everybody,” Damianou informed the Sunday Mail, including that laws had been ready nevertheless it was now the topic of consultations with all events.
“Our intentions are, as a result of it will be very tough to desk laws that everybody agrees with, at the very least to have laws to undergo the legislature that can be to a big diploma agreed and proceed with that.”
Absolutely conscious that 4 well being ministers earlier than him have did not discover a formulation for establishing college clinics at Nicosia basic hospital, Damianou has inaugurated a spherical of consultations with the events. The principle variations are between the College of Cyprus and authorities medical doctors’ union Pasyki, which have been at loggerheads over how the college clinics would function for the final 9 years.
The well being ministry commenced a brand new spherical of consultations in March. Stakeholders have been all given the regulation proposal that was first circulated in 2020 within the first spherical of consultations and nearly all events responded with their feedback, which can be mentioned in a second spherical of conferences. If there’s a want extra talks will observe, however Damianou needs to finalise the invoice and submit it to the legislature as quickly as attainable.
Securing settlement on most factors will improve the chance of the laws being authorized, mentioned the minister.
“If we have now a invoice, 80 per cent of which has been agreed and there’s disagreement over 20 per cent by some, we should always conflict about that half. When it goes to the Home there could be debate solely about two factors,” he added.
The primary try to arrange college clinics dates again to 2016, when the then College of Cyprus rector Constantinos Christofides despatched educational medical doctors to Nicosia basic hospital to start out work, resulting in a showdown with the federal government medical doctors’ union Pasyki, which instantly threatened strike motion.
The union had argued that it will by no means settle for having medical professors being put in control of the clinics at Nicosia basic and inserting authorities medical doctors with years of expertise, hierarchically under them. Pasyki additionally objected to a medical professor gathering two salaries, one from the college and one from the hospital.
The well being minister on the time, Giorgos Pamborides, averted backing UCy, which was pressured to again down and the matter was forgotten. The official line on the time was that there have been no rules for the operation of college clinics and that these needed to be in place earlier than they have been opened. The union additionally had the assist of the events within the legislature.
A number of years handed with out something being accomplished, Pasyki having gained the argument, and the UCy medical college – based in 2013 – working with out college clinics. The medical colleges of the 2 non-public universities, in the meantime, signed agreements with the general public hospitals in Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos so their college students may obtain sensible coaching from the federal government medical doctors working there.
Damianou doesn’t agree with the place of UCy concerning the heads of the college clinics being educational medical doctors.
“We can not have the heads of the college clinics being each lecturers and clinic medical doctors on the identical time. They will solely be one of many two. Such issues are a case of black or white,” he mentioned.
That is totally aligned with the argument of Pasyki, which doesn’t need professors from the UCy medical college being put in control of hospital clinics.
Christofides informed the Sunday Mail this may be a “disastrous choice”.
“It’s unprecedented for college clinics to be run by hospital medical doctors as a substitute of medical professors with a broader medical data and expertise,” he mentioned.
“If the hospital medical doctors are positioned in control of the college clinics it will be a disaster. Having hospital medical doctors with no educational background, in control of the college clinics of a medical college is unprecedented; it doesn’t occur anyplace on the earth.”
The road of the UCy medical college has at all times been that it may place extremely skilled medical professors in control of Nicosia basic hospital clinics, thus benefiting sufferers.
Whereas agreeing with the idea, Damianou factors out that “in 9 years it has not introduced anybody and won’t achieve this now,” earlier than bluntly explaining that UCy is in no place to dictate how the college clinics ought to be run.
“We have now one thing secure that are the hospitals of this state, of Okypy, we have now one other factor that’s secure that are the medical doctors of the hospitals who’re public staff. That is additionally a relentless, it’s not one thing that can change, the medical doctors won’t disappear,” he mentioned.
“The one factor that’s not secure is the College of Cyprus. It has no hospital, the hospital is mine, and in addition belongs to the medical doctors who work there. It doesn’t belong to the Cyprus college.
“So if the college thinks it is going to convey medical doctors from overseas the place wouldn’t it put them? It has no hospital nor will medical doctors of the general public sector inform them, ‘please come and we will provide you with our beds that earn a living, so they won’t earn a living and turn into college beds, so you may stick with it being paid two salaries as educational medical doctors, when you incur a loss, we make the revenue and also you receives a commission’.”
This was not regular, however simply “college discuss” he mentioned. If the college needed to spend €200 million to construct a college hospital it was free to take action, however Cyprus didn’t have this luxurious.
Damianou believes within the gradual method to creating college clinics. Underneath this situation, educational medical doctors would enter the hospital to work with the medical doctors already there, and progressively, with the passing of time, the scientific physician would get replaced by the educational physician. An educational physician aged 45 wouldn’t be head of the clinic, however in 5 or 10 years, when the prevailing head retires, she or he would turn into the scientific director.
“But when we expect in a single or two years we’ll arrange college clinics, as if we have been Harvard, we’re fooling ourselves and it’s the motive that within the final 9 years we have now accomplished nothing.”