Cyprus watchdog: patient rights failed in most hospital transfer cases
The Patients' Advocate examined 23 typical referral scenarios in the General Health System and found rights were violated in 12 of them, with six more rated critical.
Cyprus Mail reports that the Patients' Advocate has published a review of how patients are moved between hospitals inside the General Health System. Of 23 commonplace referral and transfer situations studied, 12 involved violations of patient rights, six were classed as critical and just five met the rules.
Roughly 380 admissions each month involve someone arriving from another facility, according to Health Insurance Organisation data quoted in the review. The real extent of the trouble cannot be measured, it adds, because refusals, hold-ups and provider disagreements go unrecorded.
The review notes that the law says a patient must be taken in either where they already are or at a suitable hospital they are moved to, yet it does not spell out the moment responsibility shifts. In everyday work, acceptance is often settled by phone, and the report warns patients can be shuttled between facilities without being admitted until the argument ends.
“A phone call is not a handover, and a ‘go elsewhere’ recommendation is not a referral. When providers disagree, the patient should already be receiving care, not waiting for the disagreement to be resolved,” the Advocate said.
What it means for residents
For anyone on the island who needs a hospital bed, the gap identified here touches the moment when care is most urgent. Until the rules are tightened, a patient's place in the system may depend on a phone call rather than a written commitment, so it pays to keep records of every step.
- Keep paper trails. Ask for referral and acceptance details in writing, note names, dates and times, and hold on to them if treatment is delayed.
- Escalate early. If two hospitals cannot agree, contact the Health Insurance Organisation and the Patients' Advocate rather than waiting at home.
- Watch for changes. Proposed fixes include a central bed register and an HIO coordinator able to rule within hours; until they exist, expect the old informal practice to continue.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
