Patients at Cypriot hospitals complain of early discharges and medicine shortages

The Patient Rights Observatory of the Cyprus Federation of Patients’ Associations (OSAK) registered 46 official complaints over the past month about systemic failures in the operation of the General Healthcare System (Gesy). Most of the public complaints are related to delayed deliveries and shortages of medicines, bureaucratic obstacles to referring patients for treatment abroad, premature discharges of seriously ill patients because of hospitalization limits, as well as the inability to promptly investigate cases of medical negligence. OSAK representatives stress that the strict regulations of the Health Insurance Organization (OAY) and the Health Ministry often do not take patients’ individual needs into account.

The key problems recorded in patient complaints:

Premature discharge from hospitals. Gesy hospitals are forcing relatives to take patients home immediately after the set number of hospitalization days has been exhausted (for example, after complex hip operations), ignoring poor test results and the acute shortage of places in rehabilitation centers.

Blocking investigations into medical errors. Investigative actions into allegations of negligence (in particular, in neurosurgical operations) are frozen for months because it is impossible to find independent local experts willing to assess colleagues’ actions. Patients demand that specialists from abroad be brought in.

Bureaucratic barriers to treatment abroad. OAY services reject applications to send seriously ill patients to specialized clinics in Europe for formal reasons. In particular, one case was recorded in which a rheumatologist’s request for treatment in Germany for a bedridden patient was rejected because of a requirement that the document be submitted exclusively by an orthopedist.

Medicine shortages and low availability index. Patients regularly face disruptions in the supply of basic antibiotics and hormonal drugs. The problem is systemic: according to the latest European W.A.I.T. index dated 19 May 2026, Cyprus ranks only 21st out of 36 in the EU — on the island, only 66 of 168 innovative medicines approved between 2021 and 2024 are available.

Limits on therapy for rare diseases. The current Gesy rules set a strict cap (for example, up to 36 speech therapy sessions per year), which cannot be increased even for children with severe genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders who need continuous care.