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A grieving family is accusing Larnaca General Hospital of negligence after a 72-year-old woman died there last month, saying what they saw and were told simply doesn't add up.
The relatives of Constantia Nikolaou have filed an official complaint, claiming she was left without proper care before her death in the early hours of Jan. 18. They’ve written to both the health minister and the State Health Services Organization, calling conditions at the hospital unacceptable and demanding a full investigation.
According to their account, Nikolaou was taken to the hospital around 4 p.m. on Jan. 17 after feeling seriously ill from COVID-19. They say it took five hours and repeated calls to staff before a doctor examined her. The first medical assessment reportedly pointed to sepsis.
She was admitted to the Infectious Diseases Unit, but relatives say the ward was in disarray because of a shooting incident in Larnaca earlier that day that they claim stretched staff thin. They were told there was no need for anyone to stay with her and were reassured her condition was stable.
Later that evening, the family phoned to make sure the staff knew about medication she needed for other health issues. They say they were told it would be given.
At 3:51 a.m., her daughter called again to check on her. A nurse reportedly said she didn’t have a clear picture but added that “everything is fine.” Just 26 minutes later, the hospital called her son to say his mother had died from cardiac arrest.
For the family, that sudden shift raises troubling questions: what changed in less than half an hour, whether she was being monitored properly, and if staff realized in time that she was in distress.
They say their concerns deepened when they rushed to the hospital and found her medication hadn’t been administered and a water bottle beside her bed was still sealed, details they argue point to a lack of even basic care.
In their complaint, the relatives are calling for an immediate investigation, more staffing, and safeguards to ensure patients are constantly monitored. They warn that delays and neglect in an overstretched system can be deadly and say repeated complaints about the hospital should already have set off alarm bells.
The health minister, according to information obtained, has asked OKYpY to investigate the case.
