State’s Okypy life support to continue

Financial support towards state health services (Okypy) has been extended till the end of 2026 and there is currently no intention to change the aid framework, Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides assured on Friday. The minister said PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was already conducting a survey on additional measures demanded to keep the services alive. The economic autonomy of state hospitals was discussed at the House health committee, in the context of the health ministry’s budget for 2027, with the minister saying a special team of economists was going over Okypy’s finances and measures to increase revenues and cut expenditure. A committee comprising Okypy and the health and finance ministries is already looking into the viability of the health services and will be producing a report, which will give the minister a “clearer picture” of what to do next so that Okypy can continue to operate in 2027 without any problems. At the moment, Charalambides said, there were enough reserves to keep going, however it was necessary for Okypy to be sustainable and present a balanced budget. Chairwoman of the House health committee Disy MP Savia Orphanidou said Okypy and the state hospitals should not need state subsidies. “We acknowledge the positive statement made by the health minister that the state subsidy will not need to be extended further and we await that this commitment will be met,” she said. Orphanidou added that it was necessary to promote reforms for the long-term viability of the national health scheme (Gesy), including cracking down on shortcomings, abuse of the system, waiting lists and degraded quality of services. Disy MP George Pamborides expressed concern over state hospitals becoming autonomous and raised issues such as staffing, human resources administration and dependence on the civil service. Alma MP Litsa Drousioti said the autonomy of Okypy was happening on paper and not in practice, and instead of reducing deficits, the state was increasing its subsidies.