Nursing shortage dispute intensifies ahead of two bills before parliament

Two government bills aimed at addressing Cyprus’ nursing shortage have intensified a dispute between private hospitals and the state nursing unions, with the former warning that hospital beds are being closed, while the latter raise concerns over patient safety and the potential replacement of existing staff with cheaper foreign labour. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, Michalis Grigoriou of the Cyprus Employers and Industrialists Federation (OEV) welcomed the government’s decision to bring the two bills before parliament tomorrow, saying the private healthcare sector was currently facing a shortage of around 650 nurses. “Finally, the government is bringing two bills to parliament,” he said. Proposed changes The proposed changes to the nursing and midwifery bill were intended to allow the controlled employment of nurses from third countries in private hospitals under specific conditions. These include a cap of 10 per cent on the proportion of foreign nurses within each healthcare unit, a requirement for moderate knowledge of the Greek language and restrictions on senior roles. When asked whether a language barrier might be a safety concern, he acknowledged that learning Greek to the required standard would be difficult for foreign nurses, but argued that they would receive assistance from other staff and would not compromise patient safety. “There is no safety issue. They will carry out their duties normally,” he said. Staffing requirements questioned Grigoriou also questioned Cyprus’ staffing requirements, claiming that the country was the only one in Europe where legislation required one nurse for every five patients, compared with ratios of one to 15 in some other countries. He said the situation differed in the public sector, which also faced shortages, but maintained that private hospitals handled approximately 65 per cent of cases. However, Savas Iakovou, the general secretary of Pasyno, the union representing state hospital nurses, strongly disputed figures presented by the private hospital sector, describing them as arbitrary claims intended to influence the legislative process. Nurses leaving the profession Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, he said the information presented by the Pancyprian Association of Private Hospitals (Pasin) was not supported by evidence. He also pointed to the departure of 1,500 nurses between 2016 and 2026, arguing that the underlying problems facing the profession needed to be addressed rather than relying on recruitment from abroad. He claimed that he has it on good authority that 15 nurses at a private hospital were facing dismissal to make way for nurses recruited from third countries. “In the absence of a minimum wage for nurses, employers could recruit staff from abroad at lower salaries”, creating an incentive to replace existing employees, he said. The dispute follows warnings from Pasin president Marios Karaiskakis earlier on Wednesday, that the nursing shortage has already forced private hospitals to close more than 50 beds, including intensive care beds, and postpone major surgical procedures. Speaking on CyBC radio, Karaiskakis said private hospitals had been warning about the problem for years. Private sector 600 nurses short He said the association had initially estimated a private sector shortage of around 400 nurses, while a subsequent health ministry study put the figure at 600. “We know the problem. The question is how we solve it,” he said. According to Karaiskakis, intensive care units have been particularly affected because beds cannot operate without the required number of nurses. “There have been cases where major surgeries were postponed because there was no available intensive care bed for the patient after surgery,” he said. One hospital has apparently closed more than 15 beds He added that one hospital had closed more than 15 beds because it could not provide adequate staffing, while more than 50 beds had been taken out of operation across private hospitals. State nursing union Pasyno challenged these claims, calling on the health ministry to inspect private hospitals and establish whether the reported closures had actually taken place. The union also urged the health minister to publish a study examining nursing shortages, saying it had obtained a copy and that the findings supported its position. The union representative further alleged that nurses working in private hospitals were being required to perform duties outside their professional responsibilities, including cleaning and other support tasks, and that some had received threats of dismissal. In a subsequent statement on Wednesday, OEV strongly criticised the Pasyno representative’s remarks, accusing him of making offensive and unfounded allegations against private hospitals and their management. OEV warned that if the remarks reflected the union’s official position, reaching an agreement on the issue would become increasingly difficult. It also acknowledged that the government proposals currently before parliament would not fully resolve the shortage but could help alleviate it. “The responsibility of parliament is neither towards hospitals nor towards nurses. Its responsibility is towards patients, citizens and everyone entitled to healthcare in Cyprus,” the federation said.