Nurses to hold work stoppage on Thursday

Nurses will hold a work stoppage outside public hospitals on Thursday to protest understaffing, union representatives announced on Tuesday.

The stoppage will be from noon to 1pm and will include nurses who are members of Pasydy and Pancypriot nurses’ union Pasyno.

Speaking to Trito radio, Pasyno spokesman Theodoros Petelis, called Okypy’s claim that there is no issue of understaffing in public hospitals, alarming.

He recalled that a year ago, the same organisation had agreed that hospitals were 140 nurses short.

Petelis said that Okypy’s officials have become unreliable and indicated that if the problem is not resolved, other measures will be announced.

It is noted that Thursday’s protest will not disrupt the normal running of hospitals as only off-duty nurses and those who work in departments that do not affect patient services will participate.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Michalis Damianos said he was confident Okypy will in the next 24 hours submit a proposal to address the issues concerning the nurses.

Also speaking to Trito, he said that it is imperative for the two sides to have intensive consultations so that the issue can be resolved as soon as possible.

He stressed that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, acknowledging that there is a general lack of nursing staff in Cyprus and that things would be better if there were more nurses available.

Quizzed on potential solutions, the health minister said that caregivers may be hired to cover the gaps, which is also Okypy’s position on the matter.

He also said that some nurses who perform administrative or other duties could return to clinical work, acknowledging that someone who has been performing other duties for ten years cannot be forced to return to clinical work.