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A nationwide survey by the Cyprus Medical Association (CMA) indicates widespread dissatisfaction among doctors with the performance and reliability of the IT platform used for Cyprus’ General Health System (GESY), with the vast majority reporting repeated outages and technical disruptions.
According to the CMA, more than nine in ten doctors say they have experienced periods when the system was unavailable or not functioning properly. The association is calling for an immediate and permanent technical solution, warning that the repeated failures are now affecting routine healthcare delivery.
The survey was conducted across Cyprus between 30 September and 30 November 2025 and included responses from 728 doctors contracted with GESY, representing all medical specialties.
CMA states that system interruptions have become so frequent that many doctors now encounter them on an almost daily basis. When the platform goes offline, doctors are unable to complete essential tasks such as registering patient visits, issuing prescriptions, generating referrals, and processing other services required for patient care.
The findings suggest the issue is not occasional but widespread and recurring. The survey reports that 91% of doctors have faced system outages, often lasting between one and four hours, occurring weekly or even every day. In addition, 62% of respondents said the system regularly performs slowly, while 54% said these delays significantly interfere with their work. Technical faults such as disconnections, errors, and delays were reported by 82% of doctors.
Doctors identified some of the most problematic functions as accessing patient medical histories, prescribing medication, issuing referrals, logging into the system, and uploading or viewing test results.
The CMA also highlighted the knock-on effects of outages on clinics and patients. About 65% of doctors said downtime creates a chain reaction of disruptions, including appointment delays, overcrowding, and inability to properly serve patients. Around 80% said they are forced to postpone tasks and complete them later, often outside regular working hours.
Beyond technical reliability, the survey raised concerns about usability and administrative burden. CMA reported that 86% of doctors find the medical protocols difficult to understand or not user-friendly, contributing to increased bureaucracy and loss of clinical time. Despite these concerns, 46% of doctors still rated the system’s overall usability positively, and 61% said it contributes to service quality to some extent. However, CMA noted that most respondents believe major improvements are urgently needed.
In its statement, the CMA stressed that stable and continuous access to the system is essential for the functioning of GESY. The association is urging authorities to ensure uninterrupted availability, introduce clear backup solutions during technical failures, improve speed and performance across key functions, simplify medical protocols, reduce repetitive data entry, and guarantee full access to patient medical records. It also called for temporary saving and offline processing options when the system is down.
CMA further emphasized that doctors should be properly trained and actively involved in planning and assessing future upgrades.
The association concluded that high-quality and safe healthcare cannot be ensured when GESY’s core operational system repeatedly fails, describing an IT overhaul as an institutional and operational necessity.
