Nurses at Larnaca hospital hold one-hour strike over overcrowding

Nurses at Larnaca General Hospital staged a spontaneous one-hour strike on Wednesday morning, from 8:00 to 9:00. Staff are protesting chronic overcrowding: in the emergency department (TAEP), patients wait for hours for an available bed for admission.

According to the nursing department of the Pancyprian Public Servants Trade Union (PASYDY), the hospital administration opened five additional beds, but they have to be staffed through overtime. The union considers this measure temporary: it does not address the underlying cause — a shortage of beds and staff.

“We are at the limit of professional burnout,” the union said in a statement. It stressed that constant overtime threatens both the health of nurses themselves and patient safety.

PASYDY called on the State Health Services Organisation (OKYPY), which runs Cyprus’s public hospitals, to find “substantial and permanent” solutions instead of temporary measures that mask systemic problems.

The strike in Larnaca took place ahead of a general action by hourly-paid workers scheduled for 17 September. Around 11,000 people are expected to take part: 6,500 civil servants and 5,500 employees of OKYPY and school committees. They are seeking an 8% pay increase, while the Finance Ministry has estimated the cost of such a three-year agreement at €50 million.